Class 
Book 




HtyHLt 




CHRIST'S IIKSI I'RKSHYTKRIAN CHURCH. 



SOUVENIR 



OF THE 



250™ Anniversary 



OF 



(Frist's First Presbyterian (lurch 



Hempstead, Long Island, N. Y., 



OCTOBER 14, I5> 16, 



1894. 



Hempstead, N. Y. 
Inquired Power Press Print, 

1895. 



OFFICERS OF THE CHURCH. 



Rev. FRANK MELVILLE KERR. Pastor. 
ELDERS. 



J. Edward Davidson. 
•Luke Fleet, 
( !h vrles H. Ludlum. 



Percy B. Bromfield. 
William P. Conklin, 

Thomas F. Gilbert. 



DEACONS. 

J. B. Mersereau. Franklin D. Bedell. James Bennett. 



TRUSTEES. 



J. Seymour Snedeker. 
S. A. Smith, 
s. S. Smith, Jr.. 



Thomas W. Albertson. 
Joseph D. Armstrong. 
John P. H. de Wint. 



R. W. Rhodes. 



COnniTTEES. 

Reception— J. Seymour Snedeker, S. A. Smith. S. S. Smith. Jr., C. H. 
Ludlum. William F. Conklin, Franklin D. Bedell. James Ben- 
nett. J. A. Flaacke, J. P. H. de Wint, George S. Emory, R. W. 
Rhodes. 

Decoration — Miss Julia H. Thompson, Miss Maude Brownell, Mrs. 
James K. Boyd, Mrs. M. G. Collins. 

Entertainment Miss Julia H. Thompson. 

Collation— Mrs. A. Hendrickson, Mrs. T. E. Seaman, Mrs. S. Sealey, 

Mrs. Phebe Dykes, Mrs. E. Hinds. Mrs. W. Z. Ketcham, Miss M. 

Wright, Mrs. E. Bedell, Mrs. J. H. Epworth, Mrs. C. H. Ludlum. 

Mrs. H. Starr. Mrs. William F. Conklin. Mrs. F. Miller. Mrs. A. 

m . '. Smith, Miss Aletta Ryder. Miss Minnie Noon, Miss Julia Stoft'el. 

I.', Miss Sophia Werner. Miss Eunice Hull. Miss Cornelia Bennett. 

Mrs. E. F. Harold, Mrs. R. Campbell. Mrs. L. Clowes, Mrs. E. 

Kellum, Mrs. F. M. Kerr, Mrs. W. L. Brownell. Mrs. Matthews. 

Miss L. Thompson. 

MUSIC— Mrs. F. W. Werner, Mr. J. H. Roberts. 

Or<; wis is Dr. Francis P. Hamlet. Miss Viola Bedell. 






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INVITATION TO THE CELEBRATION. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



Bright skies favored the Presbyterians of Hempstead 
during- the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniver- 
sary of their church's existence. The storms of the previous 
week cleared the atmosphere of its physical discomforts and 
made the bracing October breezes, which were tempered by 
the benign sunshine, doubly inviting to the people of this 
village and other places, who desired to show an interest in 
such a historic church by attending the services of the cele- 
bration. 

To those who are familiar with the history of this church, 
such a benediction as the physical elements gave at that time 
cannot be regarded as anything else than Providential. This 
organization has seen so many dark and stormy days during 
its long existence, occasioned by native and foreign foes, that 
it might have had some doubts as to the possibility of ever 
fully realizing sunshine from an unclouded sky. But there 
were rays of light occasionally so that the historical observer 
of the present day is able to believe the Psalmist, when he 
says: "Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor 
sleep." The efforts of our worthy ancestors, which were put 
forth so frequently in darkness and disappointment, were 
observed by an unsleeping Master, who came to them on the 
troubled waters and spoke words of assurance and hopefulness 
so that renewed strength was obtained for future struggles and 
victories. 

It was in the spirit of thankfulness for all the efforts of the 
past and the ideals of the future that the members of this 
church so heartily joined in the celebration of their spiritual 
mother's birthday. It was in the hearts of all identified with 
the church that unity of spiritual purpose, faithfulness in duty 
to God and man, and constant communion with the One who 



— 4— 

has established Zion for a holy purpose would insure, during 
the time which is to come, many bright and glorious days for 
aerressive activity in the cause of righteousness. It was a time 
when natural brightness seemed sent for the purpose of inspir- 
ing Christian lives with zeal and determination to preserve in 
this place an institution which has an interest in the moral 
and spiritual development of all persons who come under its 
influence. 

The church was simply but tastefully decorated by the 
committee of ladies appointed for that purpose. On one side 
of the organ was the date 1644; and under it was the British 
flag, indicating the nationality of Richard Denton and the first 
members of this church. On the other side of the organ was 
the date 1S94; and suspended from it was the flag of the United 
States, showing the government to which the present members 
belong. The pulpit and galleries were decorated with flags 
and wreathes, stars and crosses of evergreen branches. The 
flags were used to show the loyalty of the Presbyterian Church 
to the Nation and the evergreen branches to testify to the 
perpetual newness of the "Old, Old Story, of Jesus and his 
love. " 

The following programme, which was prepared after due 
deliberation and care, was fortunately carried out in almost 
every particular. The Rev. Jas. N. Crocker, D. D. , of the 
Synod of New York, and j. S. Cooley, M. D., of (den Cove, 
one of the representatives of the Presbytery of Nassau, were 
the only speakers on the programme who were unable to be 
present : 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14th, 1894. 

10.30 A. M. Sermon by the Pastor. Subject: The Significance of the 

Kingdom of God. 
2.30 P. M. Sunday School Service in the Chapel. 
6.30 P. M. Y. P. S. C. E. Prayer Meeting in the Chapel. Subject: 

Bow Christ Helps in our Daily Tasks. Leader, Mrs. 

S. H. Powell. 
7.30 P. M. Evening Service. Senium by the Rev. Franklin Noble. 

D. D., a former pastor. 



— 5— 

MONDAY, OCTOBER 15th, 1894. 

9-12 A. M. Reception of Guests by Reception Committee. 
12.30-2 P. M. Lunch in the Chapel. 

3.00 P. M. Afternoon Service. 

Frank Melville Kerr, pastor, presiding. 

Hymn No. 324. 

Scripture Lesson, read by the Rev. S. H. Marcy. pastor 
of the Baptist Church. 

Prayer. 

Hymn No. 575. 

Historical Address by the pastor. 

Anthem. 

Communications. 

Address. The Rev. S. A. Muchmore, D. D.. Phila.. 
Moderator of General Assembly. 

Address. The Rev. Jas. N. Crocker, D. D.. Saratoga, of 
the Synod of New York. 

Addresses. The Rev. Samuel T. Carter, Huntington, and 
J. S. Cooley, M. D.. Glen Cove, representatives of 
Presbytery. 

Addresses. The Rev. J. B. Finch. Rev. Franklin Noble, 
D. D.; Rev. Charles E. Dunn, Rev. J. A. Davis, former 
pastors. 

Hymn No. 570. 

Benediction. 

5.30-7 P. M. Collation in the Chapel. 

7.30 P. M. Evening Service. 

Frank Melville Kerr, presiding. 

Hymn No. 32. 

Scripture Lesson. The Rev. J. W. Maynard. pastor of 
the M. E. Church. 

Anthem. 

Prayer. 

Address. The Venerable Church in Relation to the Present 

and Future. The Rev. J. D. Wells, D. D., Brooklyn. 
Solo. 

Address. The Rev. S. A. Mutchmore, D.D., Moderator 
of General Assembly. 

Anthem. 

Address. The Rev. John Hall, D. D. , L L . D. 

Hymn No. 642. 

Benediction. 



—6— 

TUESDAY. OCTOBER 16th, 1894. 

9 12 A.M. Reception of Guests by Reception Committee. 
12.30-2P. M. Lunch in the Chapel. 

3.00 P. M. Afternoon Service. 

< ihristian Endeavor Service in the Church, J. E. Patterson, 

President, presiding. 
Hymn No. 200. 
Devotional Exercises. 
Hymn No. '27. 

Address. Rev. Charles Park. Astoria. 
Hymn No. 2:50. 
Address. Our Pledge. The Rev. B. B. Tyler. D. D.. 

New York. 
Hymn No. 35. 

Address. The Rev. David James Burrell, D. D., New York. 
Hymn No. 111. 

( !onsecration Service led by the Rev. J. H. Peck. Corona. 
Closing Hymn and Mizpah. 
5.30-7 P. M. Collation in the Chapel. 

7.30 P. M. Evening Service. 

Percy B. Bromfield. Superintendent, presiding. 

Singing. 

Reading Scriptures. 

Prayer. Chanting the Lord*s Prayer. 

Singing 1 y the School. 

Historical Sketch of the Sunday School 1 y the Superin- 
tendent. 

Reception to former Superintendents. 

Singing. 

Communications. 

Sol... Miss Van De Water. 

Address. Dr. Louis Klopsch, Sup< rint< tident Brooklyn 
Tabernacle Sunday School. 

Singing. 

Address. The Rev. A. H. McKinney. Ph. D.. Superin- 
tendent Olivel Sunday School. N. Y. 

Sin-in-'. 

I ; in diction. 







A GROUP OF FORMER PASTORS. 



(4) J. J. A. Morgan. 



(i) C. E. Dunn. (2) J. A. Davis. (3) F. E. Hopkins 

(5) Franklin Noble. D. D. (6) J. B. Finch. (7) N. C. Locke. 



SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1894. 



The celebration began with the usual service in the church 
on Sabbath morning-. The service was well attended by the 
members and friends of the church, and all joined in an enthu- 
siastic manner in the worship of the hour. The choir, under 
the direction of Mrs. F. W. Werner, as chorister, and Dr. F. P. 
Hamlet, as organist, rendered several excellent and appropriate 
selections of music. The solo rendered by Mr. Albert A. Day, 
of our village, was much appreciated by the congregation. 
The scripture lesson, which was read by the pastor, was the 
twelfth chapter of St. John. The pastor had announced that 
he would preach upon the following subject: "The Significance 
of the Kingdom of God;" but, as the Rev. J. B. Finch was able 
to be present at the service, he consented to preach in the 
pastor's place. 

The following sermon was delivered Sabbath morning, Oct. 
14th, by the Rev. James B. Finch, M. A., of Amagansett, L. I., 
who was pastor of this Church from 1867 to 1S75: 

Sermon by the Rev. James B. Finch, M. A. 

TRUE CONCEPTIONS OF WASTE. 
Text: To what purpose is this waste? Matt. 26: 8. 

Our Lord with some of his disciples was sojourning at Bethany. 
While there a feast was made in His honor. Amid the festivities, 
Mary entered, having an alabaster-box of very precious ointment, and 
poured its contents upon our Saviour's head as he sat at meat. This 
act of hers seems to have excited some surprise among the disciples. 
But whatever may have been their feelings in regard to the matter, we 
see from our L Orel's words that there was no real waste in Mary's break- 
ing this costly alabaster-box on His head: that the act was a proper 
way of expressing love to the Master; that the obligations of Christ's 
immediate disciples were not met, nor, as is our inference, are our obli- 
gations discharged in service to the poor; that it was their duty, and is 



ours also, to bring costly gifts to the Lord as expression of attachment; 
and that in so doing there will, of course, be no waste in the proper 
sense of the term. 

True Conceptions of Waste is Our Theme. 

To-day, persons wish to show their devotion to their Lord, in some 
way. as Mary did. How shall they do it? It occurs to them that they 
may do it by building a church, or repairing one; or by establishing a 
( Jhristian school or college: or by sending missionaries to our Western 
frontiers, or to foreign lands. 

Now it is not waste to build churches, even expensive churches; 
for these are silent preachers of the gospel: they show to the world in 
what esteem the founder thereof is held. Men sometimes write and 
print expensive books as memorials of dear friends; they erect arches 
of triumph in honor of a great warrior. In one view, this is waste: in 
another, it is not; the devotion — whatever the formal act may be— 
shows esteem — honor. Thus costly churches indicate the Master"s 
right to the very best instruments of worship. With this purpose in 
view, men keep religious temples in repair, and the money thus given 
is not wasted, but, if given with the right motive is treasure laid up in 
heaven. 

Again, it is not waste to support an order of men to preach the 
gospel. The work of these men is in the interest of even worldly thrift 
and morality. We have only to contrast the civilization of Christian 
nations with that of pagan nations to see the great obligations men are 
under to churches and Christian ministers for the means of their sub- 
sistence and the comforts of their lives. Morality, political liberty, 
pleasant homes, schools, colleges and seminaries of learning are largely 
the outcome of Christian churches. But infinitely higher than these 
fruits are the "fruits of the Spirit." which they are the instruments of 
producing among men— joy to those in sorrow — strength to the weak- 
courage to the despondent and hopeless — and especially knowledge of 
the way of pardon for sin, and thus of reconciliation with God. The 
cost of maintaining such an order of men with such fruits is not waste. 
but an investment yielding large returns. 

Again, it is not waste to spend money in educating this class of 
men nor in educating the members of our Christian congregations. 
The fruit of education, or culture, is a power in every department of 
life, but in no sphere more than in the religious. Piety, of course, is 
an essential qualification to usefulness in the ministry; hut piety alone 
cannot meet and overcome the sophistries, and the cavils of the infidel. 
or atheist, or mere worldling. Piety, while it may challenge respect 



— 9— 

for the minister of Christ, needs the handmate thereof — sanctified cul- 
ture — in order to any great achievements. The truth of this assertion 
is abundantly substantial by the history of the church. Nor are 
time and money spent in educating the members of our Christian 
churches wasted. Substantiated piety is based on knowledge; and a 
community that is thoroughly and permanently religious is an intelli- 
gent community; it will be carried away neither by shams, nor isms, 
nor spasms. It is not waste, accordingly, to seek a true education 
from all legitimate sources: from pleasant surroundings; from gar- 
dens abloom with flowers, and from houses adorned with statues and 
paintings; for by these means, the ideal, and aesthetic, and spiritual 
nature may be cultivated: and man may be able to rise in the scale of 
being, and to approximate more nearly than otherwise to a true and 
noble manhood; Or, in a word, to the image of Christ. We repeat, 
money spent to secure such results is not wasted — certainly not, if its 
possessor can afford the expense. And even if there were some mea- 
sure of extravagance in this direction, there is no question to an ingen- 
uous mind, that such a sort of extravagance were a virtue, in contrast 
with the niggardly parsimony of some close-fisted men. who save money 
merely for the sake of accumulations with little conviction that money 
has no use, except in so far as it ameliorates the condition of its owner, 
or that of his fellow-man. 

Again, it is not waste to send missionaries to foreign lands. It 
pays largely to do this in the wordly prosperity that missions beget; so 
that the pagan nations have increased products not only for themselves, 
but to export to other nations. And then think of the joy that springs 
up in our hearts as a consideration of the obedience to our Lord's com- 
mand arises within us: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature." And think also of the joy begotten in 
heathen souls from the knowledge of the terms of salvation through 
Jesus Christ. As a result of the Christian knowledge thus imparted, 
will also be evidenced the enactment of Christian laws and the 
forming of Christian institutions. CLrarches will not only be estab- 
lished, but schools, and colleges, and seminaries of learning; human 
slavery will be abolished, and woman will be esteemed as something 
beside mere drudges for men. There is, then, properly no waste in 
bringing costly gifts to our Lord, in building and beautifying churches; 
in supporting Christian ministers, nor in sending missionaries to 
heathen lands. 

But while these things are so. there is often sheer waste on the 
part of man. He sometimes wastes the property that God in his Provi- 
dence has given him. He sometimes btrilds a palace instead of a house 



—10- 
in which to live; and then pampers his appetites and vices by the nse 
of tobacco, and wines, and spirituous liquors. How often do men allow 
the animal to usurp dominion over the rational, and moral, and spirit- 
ual faculties with which they are endowed, and deliberately, it would 
seem, destroy both their bodies and their souls. Look into the inebri- 
ate's h< »me; note the expressi< >n ( if care and woe on the face of her whom, 
years ago as a lovely and beautiful woman, the man pledged his sacred 
honor to love: look at the prematurely old faces of his children, born 
into suffering, squalor and filth: consider the loathsome moral atmos- 
phere with which they have been enveloped, and which they have been 
compelled to breathe from the period of infancy; consider not only the 
wreck of the inebriate's constitution, both physical and moral, but his 
contaminating influence on his children, by which they are led to 
grow up in ignorance and wickedness, and tell us, " To what purpose 
is this waste?" 

Again, there is sometimes wast;.' of the intellectual forces. We 
believe, of course, that, so far as civic rights are concerned, all men 
are. in this country at least, free and equal. And yet we are quite 
well aware that all men have not the same intellectual force even here. 
Some are weak in intellect, others are strong. Some are sharp in 
acquiring knowledge: oth ore are dull. After all, more depends on 
education than we are apt to think. Somethinu;. of course, depends on 

dity — on who was one's father or grandfather; but if one will 
husband and exercise the intellectual forces that God has given him: 
if he will gradually develop them, raid not waste them by overwork, 
or excesses in any direction, he need not be so dull and ol fuse as the 
majority of men are. Men of sluggish intellects often wonder 
why it is that their minds are not so active as those of some 
of thetr neighbors: and men of wicked and perverted mind, 
wonder often why their whole intellectual moral sky appears so lurid 
and dark, — why their thoughts are so impure and wicked. Now, if 
tin y would reflect a little, it might not appear so very strange to them: 
they would p< rceive that they had not fed their minds at all. or that 
they had fed them with impure aliment. The difference 1 etween nun 
is not wholly due to birth, or accident, or caprice, or chance: it results, 
in greai measure, from difference of education. In one case, the capacity 
given has not been rightly developed; in the other, the development 
lias been normal. If one take poison into his physical system, the 
result is pain, disease, and sometimes death. So if one feed upon 
immoral and vicious literature, he cannot escape its influence; his 
mind will be perverted, bis thoughts will be impure, and these thoughts 
will actualize themselves in wicked deeds. Ah! it is sad to see the 



—11— 

intellectual waste around us. Why need it be so? "To what purpose 
is this- waste ?' * 

Again, there is often a waste in the religious forces. Among these 
forces is enthusiasm. True enthusiasm is an inspiration, or divine 
possession, and as such is a great force in the religious life; but if men 
get, as they often do. a conceit of the divine possession, they are led 
under the impulse to wild fancies and extravagances either in the< try 
or act. This conceit of enthusiasm often weakens and wastes. The 
Christian religion may indeed be attended with excitement and enthu- 
siasm, which, if rightly controlled, may incite to holy activity and 
Christian endeavor. But the excitement, which is a mode of enthusi- 
asm, may be so intense as to blur if not blind the judgment, burn out 
the affections, and deceive the will. We should be on our guard 
against undue excitement in regard to any object, especially in regard 
to the religious life; for the mind is prone to extremes; so prone thereto 
that the apparently wannest Christian to-day frequently becomes the 
coldest next week or next year. The intensity of the fires of enthusiasm 
seem. in some cases at least. to destr< >y the fervors of the heart as effectually 
as the tires destr< >y the prairie grasses in the autumn. We d< > n< it wish f < > 
convey the impression that excitement is utterly incompatible with 
true soul-regeneration: nor that, if it be within legitimate bounds, it 
may not aid us in the true life begun. But we do wish to convey the 
impression that, if it be unduly fostered, it may, and often does, become 
so intense as to blind one's judgment, so that he is led to waste the 
divine force of his teaching and example. 

Unity, too, in the church at large, or in any particular and local 
organization — unity of thought and feeling and action — is a tremendous 
force. It is a power, against which atheism, infidelity or worldliness 
are powerless. This phase of the early church did more to convince 
pagans of the truth of Christianity than almost any other human 
instrumentality. The pagan's frequent exclamation was: "Behold, 
how the Christians love another !" And to-day, the united and harmo- 
nius activities of any individual church are often more powerful in 
convincing the ungodly of truths of the Christian religion than all the 
arguments of preachers combined. And yet how often is this force 
dissipated, and the power of individual Christian example neutralized 
by dissensions in the church at large, and even sometimes in particular 
churches of Christ. Answer. O ye garrulous and querulous Christians. 
"To what purpose is this waste ?" 

Waste, then, consists in extravagance in our personal expenses for 
worldly living: in our neglecting to cultivate and equip properly our 
intellects; in our vicious and immoral indulgences: in our neglecting 



—12— 

to use personal efforts in reclaiming the abandoned and the lost; in 
i iiir squandering the culture we possess; and in the dissipation of our 
religious forces by wild enthusiasms, by rivalries, envies, and jealous- 
ies. These are true conceptions of waste. But, considering the purity 
of the Divine character: considering God's commands to His ancient 
people in relation to the manner of building and furnishing of the 
ancient Temple at Jerusalem — the generic type of all houses of wor- 
ship —the purity and beauty and costliness of the materials used, who 
will say that, when God's people unite to build a beautiful house of 
worship, or to repair it when fallen into decay, or to commemorate 
and celebrate the anniversary of its founding, "To what purpose is 
this waste?" Considering, also, what sacrifices the Master has made 
to redeem the sonls of the children of men. and, accordingly, what 
claims He has upon them, who will say that, when His disciples con- 
tribute to the support of pastors, or missionaries, or to any of the vari- 
ous instrumentalities for saving the world, - 'To what purpose is this 
waste?" Those who bear the bag of covetousness in their hearts, or 
those who are in truth the disciples of the Master ? 

Waste! The votive offerings made here to the Lord, for the last 
two hundred and fifty years; the twenty-five pastors who have shep- 
herded the flock here: who have lived and labored, and, some of them, 
worn out here. These generations of men and women whose works 
follow them in this efficient and loving church to-day, are the means 
by which love and gratitude to Him who died and rose for our justifi- 
cation, are expressed. 

Let us. then, on this two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
founding this church, bless God for the labors and the sacrifices of the 
past generations that make this church largely what it is to-day. And 
may the considerations of the past be an inspiration to its present 
members to work on, and even wear out. in the Master's service here. 
The past is secure: with some waste, a vast treasure of the past has 
heen here saved. The resxilts of two hundred and fifty years are gar- 
nered here and in heaven. 

God bless the Presbyterian Church of Hempstead ! 

After singing Bonar's hymn, the first verse of which is 

'" Go. labor on : spend ami be spent. 
Thy joy to do the Father's will : 
It is the way the Master went ; 

Should not the servant tread it still ?" 

the service closed with the benediction by Mr. Finch. 



—13— 

The Sunday School exercises were of the usual order, and 
many visitors were in attendance to show their interest in this 
important department of church work. The scholars were in 
full attendance and crowded the chapel to its utmost capacity. 
The lesson of the day was: "The Draught of Fishes," being 
found in Luke 5: 1-1 1. It was an appropriate study for teachers 
and scholars, for it demonstrated conclusively that it is neces- 
sary to have the presence of the Saviour in order to have suc- 
cess in spiritual work. A long history, expensive buildings 
and a large membership do not indicate great achievement in the 
Kingdom of God. These things may be possessed by churches 
and yet they may have caught absolutely nothing. But 
the Word teaches that Christ's presence in the organization will 
make it a power for good and the means of drawing many 
persons within the sphere of spiritual activity. The lesson 
which the young people learned that day should never be for- 
gotten, for in a few years they will be called upon to uphold 
the church and they must know the principles which will make 
them successful in their work. 

The prayer meeting of the Young People's Society of 
Christian Endeavor was largely attended by all the young of 
the congregation. The leader, Mrs. S. H. Powell, spoke in a 
practical and interesting manner upon the subject : " How 
Christ Helps us in our Daily Tasks." The members then con- 
tributed their share to the success of the. meeting and once 
agrain manifested the value of such an organization in the 
church. Here the personal element in religious matters is 
brought to the consideration of the individual and causes each 
member to realize that Christ wishes us to serve him in public 
as well as in private, in speaking for him in the meeting as well 
as in acting for him in our daily lives. May this truth never 
depart from the minds and hearts of our young people ! 

At the evening service in the church the building was 
crowded to its greatest capacity. Invitations had been sent to 
the other churches of the village, and the Methodists gave up 
their service and worshipped with us in our church. The Rev. 



—14— 

J. W. Maynard, pastor of the M. E. Church of our village, was 
invited to the platform and offered prayer. The Rev. Franklin 
Noble, D. D., who was pastor herefrom 1875 to 1880, preached 
an able, eloquent and practical sermon upon the suggestive 
text found in Genesis 26, 18: "And Isaac digged again the 
wells of water, which they had digged in the days of Abraham 
his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the death 
of Abraham; and he called their names after the names by 
which his father had called them.'' 

We give the substance of his sermon as it appeared in the 
Inquirer : 

" He briefly reviewed the events leading to the text, showing 
that as Isaac reverenced his father, so it is a good thing for us to 
reverence our fathers, and like Isaac dig anew the wells made 
by them. This people, remembering the days gone by and 
the associations connected with them, are showing good sense 
in honoring: the heritage that has come down to them from the 
past. 

"Of the wells which our fathers digged, and which it would 
profit us to dig over again, the speaker mentioned first, the 
Bible; second, the Sabbath, and third, the church-going habit. 
Under the latter head he referred to some of his experiences 
during his pastorate here. We sometimes, he said, do not 
respect as much as we ought the fathers who have gone before. 
We ask what has the Rev. Richard Denton, and those of his 
time, who lived two hundred and fifty years ago, to do with 
us. They had the Bible, and that was about all they had ; 
they had, also, the Sabbath habit, digging these wells as God 
directed them to. It would be well for us if we dig them over, 
and, Like Isaac, call them by the old names, looking with rev- 
erence upon the things which our fathers saw with the eye of 
faith, and thus by that faith have the joy of the church, and the 
church ami the Bible of our fathers, the same yesterday, to-day 
and forever. " 

After singing " More love to Thee, oh Christ, more love to 
Thee.'' the benediction was pronounced and the first day of the 
celebration was fittingly closed. 




KKV. FRANK MKLVII.I.K KKKK. 



MONDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1894. 



The services of the second clay of the celebration began at 
three o'clock in the afternoon. The opening- voluntary was 
rendered by the organist, Dr. F. P. Hamlet, after which the 
congregation joined in singing hymn 324 : 

"How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, 
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word !" 

The Scripture Lesson was read by the Rev. Mr. Denton, 
and prayer was offered by the Rev. Mr. Gilmore, of the Pres- 
bytery of Hudson, one of our guests. 

The pastor then extended a greeting to all who were pres- 
ent and welcomed the strangers who had come to enjoy such 
an interesting event in the life of the church. Among those 
present were three descendants of Rev. Richard Denton, the 
founder of this church. They were Miss M. Wilken, of Brook- 
lyn ; Mrs. S. B. Bogart, of Staten Island, and the Rev. James 
M. Denton, of Yaphank, Long Island. 

The congregation then sang the old, but spirited hymn, 
which begins as follows : 

" I love thy kingdom, Lord ! 
The house of thine abode, 
The church our blest Redeemer saved 
With His own precious blood." 

After the singing of this hymn, the pastor delivered the 
following historical address : 

Historical Address by the Rev. Frank Melville Kerr. 

Two centuries and a half take us hack almost to the beginning of 
civilization in the western world. When we go to the year 1644, we 
are almost able to see the Santa Maria, as she comes in sight of a new 
continent; and we are almost permitted to shake hands with the first 
English settlers, who colonized the fair regions of Virginia. 

The study of the history of this individual church enables us to 
understand the Providence back of every strange and wonderful event. 



—16— 

Columbus did not blunder across the ocean and open up a hemisphere 
accidentally. There was method in his apparent madness, although it 
was not seen by his companions and almost doubted by himself. For- 
tunate winds filled his sails, and faith possessed his heart. It is no 
wonder that he named the place of landing San Salvador, which means 
Hol.v Saviour. Last year the world gathered at Chicago to honor the 
brave discoverer and witness the progression of 400 years. Of all the 
wonderful things of that great exhibition to interest me most, was a 
simple inscription in the electrical building. When Morse completed 
his first telegraph line, he sent this message: "What hath God 
wrought !" The great inventor meant to teach by that that the discov- 
eries of man are the means of Divine revelation. The world places 
Columbus among the heroes of the ages: but the student of history sees 
in him a means for the further unfolding of God's plans with the 
human family. 

Europe was changing at that time, and soon there was needed a 
religious, as 'well as commercial, safety valve. Why should Luther 
nail his theses against the church door just a few years after the dis- 
covery of America ? Because all things were ready for a great change 
of thought, and the reformation would become a success through the 
discovery of a new continent. 

These facts touch us in considering the history of this church, for 
out of the reformation came Presbyterianism. and in this great and 
free land was found an opportunity to worship God according to the 
dictates of conscience. 

EUBOPEAN PRESBYTERIANISM . 

Reaching back to such a remote period, as the history of this church 
docs, w? cannot properly consider it without noting that Presbyterian- 
ism takes its rise with John Calvin, the Genevan preacher. Calvin 
saw that it was essential to the success of Luther's vigorous warfare 
against papacy, to have some formative principles at work. Luther 
tore down: but Calvin built up. From Calvin's logical and organizing 
brain came the Presbyterian system. He however went to the New 
Testament for the 1 asis of his organization and recognized that the 
Apostolic Church should furnish material for church construction. 

His system, however, did not have an easy time, for some thought 
they saw in it an ecclesiastical "iron heel," and did not care to con- 
Iroiit another pope, even if he came in democratic guise. During the 
reigns of Elizabeth, James I., and Charles I.. Presbyterianism passed 
through many trials and difficulties. It met with opposition on almost 
every hand — from the Romanist to the most enthusiastic Independent. 



—17— 

The Sovereigns of England, while they professed great opposition to 
Rome, yet in their hearts they regarded themselves as Protestant popes 
"by divine right. Puritanism, which was Presbyterian for the most 
part, was regarded by the sovereigns as contrary to the Word of God 
and specially detrimental to the interests of the kingdom. They con- 
stantly felt the opposition of the rulers, for we read that the Huguenot 
Presbyterians of Jersey and Guernsey were deprived of their church 
privileges and witnessed the presence of established representatives in 
their old places. 

The abuses of the reign of James I. made necessary the Puritanical 
spirit, and, soon after his enthronement, there was a revival of import- 
ant ecclesiastical questions. In 1604, however, the king decided to put 
an end to this trouble by issuing "The Book of Canons," which con- 
tained three articles to which every minister in the realm had to sub- 
scribe or lose his benefices. As a result of this overt act, from 100 
to 300 ministers lost their places, and were not allowed the privileges of 
preaching in the kingdom. Many of these ministers went to Holland 
and established Presbyterian churches which afterward exerted a good 
influence for the cause in England. 

Notwithstanding the strong opposition to Puritanism on the part 
of Church and State under archbishop Laud and James I. and Charles 
I., the principles of these devout and God fearing men gained ground 
and enlisted the sympathy of many who depended upon the Establish- 
ment, regardless of the' fact that withdrawal of patronage, and perhaps 
exile, awaited them. 

In 1618 a royal proclamation was drawn up by Bishop Morton for 
James I. which was called " The Book of Sports." The object of this 
proclamation was to encourage the people who had attended divine 
service to spend the remaining part of the day in such "lawful sports" 
as dancing, archery, leaping, vaulting, May games, Whitsun ales, Mor- 
ris dances, setting of May poles, etc. This royal document was aimed 
at the Puritans. The king knew that the Established Church would 
regard this document as both lawful and expedient, and the Bishops 
knew it too, while the Puritans, inasmuch as they were not willing to 
grant the claim of the king as head of the Church, would look upon it 
as contrary to the Word of God and refuse to abide by its injunctions. 
This would bring the Puritans to another test which might result in 
the advantage of the king and the Established Church. To carry this 
plan to completion the king ordered this " Book of Sports" be read in 
every church in the kingdom. Many of the dissenting ministers refused 
to do this, preferring the wrath of the king and bishops to the violation 
of conscientious scruples. 



—18— 

Then it was that the Pilgrims and Puritans sought refuge in another 
country where they could worship God according to the dictates of 
their own conscience and remain unmolested by an earthly sovereign 
and scheming bishops. The discovery of America, a little over a cen- 
tury previous to this time, brought to these religious wanderers the 
hope and "prospect of a permanent home. God had prepared a way for 
them, although, when they read about this new land, they little knew 
the significance of it from the point of view of religious liberty and 
freedom. 

After much trouble the Pilgrims secured the permission of the 
the king, through the London Branch of the Virginia Company, to set- 
tle in America between the parallels of latitude 34 and 41 N. [See 
" Congregationalists in America, Williston Walker, 1894, p, 80."] 
According to this grant, they had no right to go above the situation of 
the present city of New York. But a strange Providence brought them 
to the uninhabited shores of the present New England States at a time 
of the year when it was necessary for them to land and protect them- 
selves from the inclemencies of severe winter weather. While they 
had no legal right, so far as the king was concerned, in this part of 
America, yet it was doubtless the means of saving them from the eccle- 
siastical conflicts with the Establishment which would certainly have 
followed had they gone to Virginia, as their charter required, for the 
Church of England was the one established in that colony. 

As one stands to-day upon the famous Plymouth Rock and thinks 
of the privations and sufferings of the Pilgrim Fathers, in order to gain 
some civil and religious liberty, he is sure to rejoice in the Providence 
of God which discovered to the world an asylum for the oppressed. 
One's meditations may be thus expressed: 

" A Rock in the wilderness welcomed our sires. 
From in mdage far o'er the dark, rolling sea ; 
On that, Holy Altar they kindled the fires, 
Jehovah! which glows in our bosoms for Thee." 

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAXIXM . 

The success of the Mayflower expedition soon brought many Puri- 
tans to the New England States. Walker, in his history of the Con- 
gregationalists, page 96. says that between the years 1630 and 1640 
fully twenty thousand Puritans came to this country. They arrived in 
Massachusetts first and afterwards many went to Connecticut, being at- 
t racted there by the rich and fertile land in the great Connecticut valley .as 
well as being anxious lest the Dutch and Plymouth settlement should 
preempt the territory. This is the reason doubtless that Connecticut 



—19— 

favored Presbyterianism and adopted that form of government in many 
particulars. Under '"Presbyterian Churches in U. S.," Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopaedia says that many of the Presbyterians coming here from 
England affiliated with the Congregational churches in New England, 
thinking that they differed little from their own. Especially was this 
the case in Connecticut, where Consociationism, modified Presbyteri- 
anism, had previously and generally prevailed. The Hartford North 
Association in 1 799 declared ' ' that the constitution of the churches in 
the State of Connecticut is not congregational, but contains the essen- 
tials of the Church of Scotland, or the Presbyterian Church in America," 
and "that the churches in Connecticut are not now. and never were 
from the earliest period of our settlement, Congregational churches." 
It is recorded that they were often spoken of as Presbyterian churches. 

All of this has great bearing upon facts which we are about to 
relate. 

Among those who left their churches in England and came to this 
country on account of opposition to Dissenters was a non-comformist 
minister of the Presbyterian type,* by the name of Richard Denton. 
He was born in Yorkshire, England, in 15S6, of a good and reputable 
family, and received his education at the University of Cambridge, 
from which institution he graduated in 1623. For a period of seven 
years after his graduation he was the settled minister of Coley Chapel, 
Halifax, Yorkshire, England. But the "Book of Sports" and many 
other acts on the part of the king and bishop were of such a character 
that this young divine could not accept them and rest conscientiously 
by their conclusions; so in 1630 he gave up his work and, with many 
followers, set sail for America. 

There is something suggestive about the year in which he gave up 
his work in Halifax. In 1629 the Puritans obtained a grant from the 
king for settlement in New England, and in 1630 fully one thousand 
Puritans reached this new country. It was at that time that Gov. 
Winthrop arrived in Salem, and in all probability Richard Denton 
came over with him.f 

He [Denton] labored first at Watertown, Mass., but in 1635, on 
account of opposition to his Presbyterianism by the Congregationalists 
of Massachusetts, he started a new settlement in Connecticut, and gave 
it the name Weathersfield. In 1641 he became the owner of valuable 
real estate in Stamford, Conn., then in the jurisdiction of New Haven, 
and, after his removal to Hempstead in 1644 he sold his place to the 
Rev. John Bishop, his successor in work at Stamford. 

*See life of Rev. Oliver Heywood, p. 82, Union Seminary Library- 
tThompson's Hist. L. I., vol. II, p. 19. 



—20— 

Thompson in his History of Long Island says that many of his fol- 
lowers in the Old Woidd came with him to this new land, and after 
staying for a while at Watertown, Weathersfield and Stamford, they 
came with their minister to Hempstead and established their church 
upon a permanent basis. 

Another fact is to be noticed which shows the Presbyterian ten- 
dency 7 of these first white settlers on this part of the Island. This terri- 
tory was obtained from the Dutch government with hoadquartars at 
what is now New York city, and Governor William Kieft (or Kierst) 
in his patent, or ground brief, bearing the date Nov. 16, 1661, gave the 
people permission '• to build a town or towns, with such fortifications 
as to them shall seem expedient, with a temple or temples to use and 
exercise the Reformed Religion, which they profess, with the ecclesi- 
astical discipline thereunto belonging * * *" (Thompson's His- 
tory of L. I., vol. II, p. 5.) This patent with the letter of Dutch pas- 
tors show that Denton was a Presbyterian. The Dutch pastors wrote 
as follows: "At Hempstead, seven Dutch miles from here, [New York 
now] they have some Independents, our own persuasion, and Presl y- 
terians. They have a Presbyterian minister named Richard Denton, 
an honest, pious and learned man." (Briggs, "American Presbyterian- 
ism," p. 102.) 

It is true that the Dutch were in this part of the New World pre- 
vious to the coming of the Puritans and that they had their church 
established on Manhattan Island, where the present city of New York 
is situated, in the year 1628. When the English took possession of this 
Island about thirty years later, they endeavored to establish their form 
in all churches. The existence of the Dutch church, however, did not 
>cease; but continued under all the circumstances and tendencies which 
were directly and indirectly opposed to thee Reformed order. As it is 
well known, this Dutch church was Presbyterial in its organization; 
but has been known in history as the Dutch Reformed Church, and at a 
somewhat recent date has dropped the word Dutch so that it is spoken 
of as the Reformed Church of America. Although having many 
principles in common, this denomination and the one known as the 
Presbyterian have existed side by side as distinct organizations. Our 
claim is not that the Hempstead Church is the oldest Protestant and 
Presl yterial in form of the churches in America, for the church in 
New York mentioned above has that distinction; but that it is the old- 
est of the denomination wh.ch has always been called by the name 
Presbyterian. 

As the town of Southampton was established in 1640, it might 
.appear that the church of that place is a trifle older than the Hempstead 



—21— 

church. We are told, however, that the first pastor of that church, the 
Rev. Abraham Pierson, arrived in Boston from England in 1639 and 
joined the church (Congregational) of that place. The following year 
he united with the people of Lynn, who desired a settlement on the 
eastern portion of Long Island. From the fact of his uniting with the 
Boston church, we judge that he was an Independent. A quotation 
from Thompson's History of L. I., vol. 1, page 340, shows that previous 
to 1700 that church was congregational in its government. The refer- 
ence is as follows: "The Suffolk presbytery was established during his 
time (the pastorate of the Rev. Sylvanus AVhite. 1727-1782) and the con- 
gregational gave place to the presbyterial form of church government." 

The Rev. William H. Moore, D.D., in his History of St. George's 
Church, page 57, quotes a letter containing information gained from 
the Rev. John Thomas, the first rector of St. George's. In this letter 
are these words: •'In the town spot of Hempstead is hut one Presbyterian 
meeting house, the only one in the parish; hut they are so poor and few 
that it is with difficulty that they maintain their minister." While 
this signifies that there was poverty among our Presbyterian ancestors, 
it certainly demonstrates the fact that at that time, 1704, the church 
existed as Presbyterian. As Mr. Thomas himself states that the town 
ever since its settlement was supplied with a Dissenting ministry, it is 
evident, from what has been previously mentioned, that it was of the 
Presbyterian order. The name of our church, Christ's First Presbyterian 
Church, which has come down to us from the early period, is an evi- 
dent indication that the founders knew that they were establishing 
the first Presbyterian church in this country and gave it the name 
above mentioned. The Rev. Sylvester Woodbridge, an honored pastor 
of this church from 1838 to 1849, says that none of the oldest of his time 
could remember hearing the oldest of their young days account for the 
name of the church in any other way. 

Richard Denton was pastor o£ the church until 1659 and received a 
salary of £70, equal in our money to $350, which was paid in such 
articles as were most useful and comfortable. It is stated by one writer 
(Woodbridge) that the money was raised at a town rate as a matter of 
course. His leaving is involved in a mystery, as he left four sons 
behind him, two of whom, Nathaniel and Daniel, established Jamaica, 
in the year 1656, and aided in the plantation of Elizabethtown, N. J., 
in 1664. Mr. Denton's successor at Halifax says that he (Denton) 
returned to England in 1659 and spent the remainder of his life in 
Essex, where he died in 1662 at the advanced age of 76 years. 

It is always interesting to hear as much as possible about these 
early men, and anything in reference to their personal appearance and 



special characteristics is remarkably attractive. It is indeed gratifying 
to us that Cotton Mather was able to give a description of our illustri- 
ous founder. He says: •• Among these clouds (meaning the ministers 
who early came to New England) was one pious and learned 
Mr. Richard Denton, a Yorkshire man, who, having watered Halifax, 
in England, where, first at Weathersfield, and then at Stamford, his 
doctrine dropped as the rain, his speech distilled as the dew, as the 
small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. 
Though he were a little man, yet he had a great soul; his well accom- 
plished mind, in his lesser body, was an Iliad in a nut shell. I think 
he was blind of an eye. yet he was not the least among the Seers of 
Israel; he saw a very considerable portion of those things which eye 
hath not seen. He was far from cloudy in his conceptions and princi- 
ples of divinity, whereof he wrote a system entitled 'Soliliquia Sacra,' 
so accurately, considering the four-fold state of man, in his created 
purity, contracted deformity, restored b< auty. and celestial glory, that 
judicious persons, who have seen it, very much lament the churches 
being so much deprived of it. At length he got into heaven beyond 
the clouds, and so beyond storms; waiting the return of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, in the clouds of heaven, when he will have his rewards among 
the saints." 

Work upon the first meeting house commenced almost immediately 
after the arrival of these illustrious settlers on this part of the Island; 
but it was not till 1648 that the structure was completed. It stood at 
the northwestern part of the town, near Burley Pond, which is now the 
northwest corner of Fulton and Franklin Sts. The building was twenty 
four feet square, and had connected with it a fort or stockade, for pro- 
tection in case the Indians manifested any hostility. 

At those times there was naturally a close connection between the 
religious and civil life of a town, and especially was this the case in a 
new settlement. The same place was used for religious and civil 
purposes, and this was the case with the meeting house just mentioned. 
But after a time on account of an increasing congregation, they ceased 
holding church services in it and used it for town purposes entirely. In 
1770 it was sold and removed to North Hempstead. 

"At A Jeneral townd meeting held in Hempstead the 7th day of 
Janeuary in the yere of our Lord 1(177 it was agreed on by the major 
vote that they should bild a meeting house." This house, as afterward 
agreed upon by a town meeting, was 30 feet long, 24 wide and 12 high, 
with a leanto on each side. The building was completed in 1679 and 
stood a few rods south of the present position of the Episcopal church, 
where Front St. now runs. From a letter written by the Rev. Mr. 



—23— 

Jenney, we learn that this meeting house, which was enlarged in 1 Too, 
had a roof covered with cedar shingles and sides clapboarded with oak 
and the interior hoarded with pine. There were no pews in our use of 
the term, but simply benches, which could he easily removed. A brook 
separated the church from the parsonage, which occupied the position 
of the present rectory. 

The parsonage was erected in 1682 and occupied the site just men- 
tioned. It served the purpose of its erection for over one hundred 
years and, having been sold, was removed in 1793. at which time the 
present Episcopal parsonage was erected. 

Immediately after the departure of Richard Denton, in 1659, the 
church sent "Joseph Meade on a voyage from Stamford to Fairfield, 
about procuring a minister," allowing him the extravagant sum of nine 
shillings for his expenses. Evidently travelling was cheap, and the 
ministers beyond the temptation of "filthy hi ere." This attempt, 
however, was unsuccessful, and efforts had to he made in another 
direction. In 1660 they secured the services of the Rev. Jonas Fordham, 
who remained here for several years and gave such satisfaction in his 
ministrations of the Gospel, that the town voted him allotments with 
the other inhabitants and a 300 acre estate in addition. 

The next minister who came to this congregation was Jeremiah 
Hohart, who was called on the 6th day of May, 1683. He was offered a 
house and three acre lot. fifty acres of woodland and liberty of com- 
mons for his cattle as long as he remained their minister. The salary 
was the same as paid to the first minister, £70 in money, which was so 
hard to raise by voluntary subscriptions that Mr. Hohart, in 1690, was 
obliged to resort to process of law to secure certainty of payment. 

Thompson says that he removed in 1696 hecause some of his people 
became Quakers and the others, without compulsion, were unable to 
raise all his salary. He preached at Jamaica for a short time and then 
went to Haddam, Conn., where he was installed Nov. 14, 1700, and 
died March 17. 1717, aged 87 years. He must have heen a man of great 
vitality for he died on Sunday afternoon only a short time after he 
preached an earnest sermon. 

There is an incident which shows how they went into details in 
calling a minister. Among other things they mentioned that his fire 
wood would he delivered free of charge. One objected to the call and 
five to the fire wood proviso. 

Woodhridge says that he was the grandfather of the celebrated 
David Brainard. 

It may be as Woodhridge points out that the " Ministerial act" of 
1695 had much to do with the removal of Mr. Hohart in 1696, as that act 



-24— 

made him wholly dependent upon the voluntary subscriptions of his 
members. If this is the case it throws a flood of light upon the difficulty 
which arose at this time with the Episcopalians. 

Notwithstanding the fact that the Presbyterians were greatly dis- 
couraged because the Episcopalians had possession of church, parsonage 
and lands formerly occupied by themselves, they did not give up hope ; 
but held meetings in different places in the village until 1722, when 
according to Thompson and Woodbridge, they actually completed a 
church of their own. (Woodbridge says that this building was near 
the site of the first church, which was near Burley Pond, now the cor- 
ner of Fvdton and Franklin streets.) The fourth church, which the 
congregation built in 1762, stood, as nearly as can be ascertained, from 
the authorities above mentioned, on the site of the present church. 
They enjoyed religious services among themselves and preaching by 
supplies, until the Rev. Joshua Hart became the settled pastor in 1772. 

But it seemed that one calamity after another visited this strug- 
gling congregation of worshippers. The Revolutionary war began in 
1776 and all dissenting churches were treated in a harsh and cruel 
manner. It is recorded that Mr. Hart was remarkably loyal to the 
American cause and preached boldly against the indifference to it 
which characterized so many in Hempstead. At one time, while he 
was preaching at a chapel east of here, a British company approached 
the place, and, hearing that Mr. Hart was about to preach, the captain 
sent the band in front of the church to distract the hearers and drown 
the voice of the preacher. Mr. Hart asked the congregation to remain 
seated and hear the music. After playing for half an hour the music- 
ians became tired and departed, allowing the preacher to finish his 
sermon. This incident speaks well for the patience of the congregation 
and the determination of the minister. 

The church here in the village, and the one moved here from Fos- 
ter's Meadow, were used by the soldiers as a place to keep their horses, 
and after they went away nothing but a shell was left. Stephen Gil- 
dersleeve, who made a statement in 1840 about events at this period as 
he remembered them, is authority for the assertion that the British 
soldiers were frequently frightened from their posts of duty near the 
church because they thought that the ghosts of former Presbyterian 
ministers frequently appeared. Tims did " conscience make cowards " 
of the brave. 

After the war was over they repaired the building and had a touch- 
ing service at the reopening. A Mr. Burnet, of Jamaica, preached the 
sermon, and the congregation were so affected by the Providential cir- 
cumstances that enabled them to assemble in a church building for 




o 

V. 

o 

t/i 






23 



—25— 

worship the first time in eight years that, after the service, they all 
shook hands and. shed tears of rejoicing. 

This edifice stood until March, 1803, when it was totally destroyed 
by fire. (I was told by an old member of the church that the church 
caught fire from a burning house on Greenwich street opposite the 
Episcopal rectory. The wind was high, and, before the people were 
aware of the danger, brands had been carried to the church and the 
building set on fire.) A meeting was called to discuss the feasibility of 
erecting a new church. At this meeting only six, one says, nine, 
another, were present. Elder Beadell said that it was impossible to do 
anything towards a new church. "O, yes!" said one of the younger 
men, who afterwards became Elder Pine, "we can build a church." 
•' Well, said the old gentleman, "I will do as much as any of you." As 
a result of the courage of these few men a new building was soon 
erected, which served as a church until 1846, when the present structure 
was put up, and the old church moved to the corner of Fulton and 
Washington streets, and remodeled at an expense of $2,441.86, for par- 
sonage purposes. The parsonage previous to the one now used is still 
standing, being used as a residence and place of business by Mr. T. A. 
Carman, stove dealer, on the east side of Main street, between Fulton 
and Front streets. That house and lot were sold for $1,150, and the lot 
now occupied by the parsonage was purchased for $317.10. 

The present church was built during the pastorate of the Rev. Syl- 
vester Woodbridge, Jr., and cost about $7,000. Mr. Woodbridge worked 
hard and faithfully to raise the money for this church building, and, as 
a pastor, was held in high esteem by the congregation. There are a 
number of members at the present time who remember Mr. Woodbridge 
very distinctly. 

The Rev. Joshua Hart preached for the congregation at two dif- 
ferent periods after the Revolutionary war ; but in 1818, when the Rev. 
Charles Webster came, the church was blessed with a long pastorate by 
an excellent minister. He was pastor till 1887, and was followed by Mr. 
Woodbridge in 1838. There is a dream of interest which can appropri- 
ately be given in relation to the coming of Mr. Webster. A minister by 
the name of Andrews supplied the pulpit for one year about 1818, and the 
congregation were sufficiently pleased with him to extend him a call. 
He accepted the call, and a day was appointed to go for his goods so 
that he would be in time for the coming Sabbath. The Saturday night 
previous Elder Pine dreamed that he stood at the southeast of the 
church and was surprised to see the steeple fall to the ground. While 
he was wondering at the strange proceeding, a better steeple in every 
way took the place of the old one. The next day Mr. Andrews declined 



-26— 

to come, and, when the congregation secured the services of Mr. Web- 
ster. Mr. Pine thought his dream had come true. At any rate the pas- 
te irate of Mr. Webster was one of great success. When he came the 
church numbered 62 members, and at his departure in 1837, the enroll- 
ment was 179. Prime gives the following: 1811, 23 members; 1817. 
57: 1820, 7.">: 1828, 96; 1832, 131 : 1837. 150; 184."). 220. 

The Rev. Sylvester Woodbridge enjoyed a pleasant and profitable 
pastorate from 1838 to 1849, and resigned to go to California as a 
missionary. He was the first minister of the Old School in California. 
His life was spared to see Presbyterianism grow to such an extent that 
in 1876 they had two Synods. 

There is a paper among others in the box of records which indicates 
the amount raised by subscription for the purchase of a horse, so Mr. 
Woodbridge could visit throughout the extensive parish. At the pres- 
ent time, however, as a result of the progressive age. the pastor becomes 
his own motive power and flies on '-the wings of the wind" over the 
smooth and level Macadam to the remotest extent of parish bounds. 

Mr. Woodbridge was followed by Charles M. Shields, who was 
pastor during 1849 and 1850. At a later date he became a professor in 
Princeton Theological Seminary, where he has done excellent service 
in training young men for the gospel ministry. Mr. Dunn, a former 
pastor, who received instruction from Dr. Shields, speaks of him as 
being " one of the most gifted philosophers and scholars of the land." 

He was followed by the Rev. N. C. Locke, who was pastor from 
1850 to "60, and was succeeded by the Rev. J. J. A. Morgan. Mr. Morgan 
was here during the exciting times of the civil war and the church was 
more or less disturbed, but not threatened seriously, by the great 
issues of that perplexing time. Rev. J. B. Finch came in 1*67 and 
labored until 1875, when he resigned on account of ill health. He gave 
place to the Rev. Franklin Noble, who served successfully till 18*0. 

The Rev. F. E. Hopkins preached here as a supply during 1881 and 
'82, and pastor until 1884, when he accepted a call to a Congregational 
church in Bridgeport, Conn. The Rev. Charles E. Dunn came fr< >m Unit >n 
Theological Seminary, New York City, where he had just graduated, 
and remained pastor until called to the pastorate of the Third Presby- 
terian Church at Albany, N. Y., in 1888. In January of 1890 the 
Rev. John A. Davis, who was a pastor in a Newark. N. J., church, 
accepted the call of this church and immediately entered upon his 
ministerial duties. In September of L893, he accepted a call to the 
Presbyterian Church of Nyack-on-the-Hudson and shortly afterwards 
began his pastoral work in that place. On April 25th, 1*94, the Rev. 
Frank Melville Kerr, a graduate of Alleghany College, Meadville, Pa., 



class of 1888, and of Union Theological Seminary, New York, class of 
1891, and until then pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Chester, 
N. J., was installed as pastor, being the twenty-fifth minister who 
has served this congregation since 1644. 

It is not necessary to go into the details of the pastorates of the 
ministers since the war, as they are familiar to the older persons and 
known by tradition to the younger people. 

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE CHURCH. 

The membership of the church is now over 300, and of this number 
between 30 and 40 reside in or near Mineola, where they have the privi- 
lege of attending service in the Union Chapel on Sunday evenings. 
The Sunday School of Mineola is reported as being in a good condition, 
and their beautiful Chapel speaks well for the interest which the 
inhabitants take in religion. Several families of our church reside in 
Garden City. 

Our Sunday School has an enrollment of 268. and when all the 
scholars attend, the Chapel is not large enough to comfortably accom- 
modate the school. The present Chapel was erected in is.')."") and dedi- 
cated in 1856. During the Superintendency of J. Edward Davidson, 
the old benches and seats, which characterized this and most all 
Chapels a few years ago, were replaced by chairs, and the room was 
given the pleasant appearance which it now possesses. However, there 
is a fund started for the purpose of having a new Chapel at some con- 
venient time. 

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor is in good con- 
dition, having about one hundred members and conducting interesting 
and profitable meetings. The work which the Society does among the 
young people is a great benefit to the church in every way. 

During the year ending April 1st, 1894, the church had money 
transactions to the amount of $3,114. and since that time improvements 
have been made in both the church and parsonage. Although the 
present building was erected in 1846 and is of the old style of architec- 
ture, yet the interior has been kept in good condition and is to-day a 
pleasant place in which to worship God. 

During the summer of 1891 an important change and improvement 
were made by the erection of an extension to the back of the church, 
the removal of the organ from the gallery, and the purchase of the new 
and beautiful instrument which is now in use. The expenses of this 
change amounted to about $2,500. A society of young ladies, called 
" The Willing "Workers," raised the money for the new organ, and at 
the same time, demonstrated to the satisfaction of the congregation 
that its title was well chosen. 



—28— 

THE CHURCH'S CONTINUOUS EXISTENCE. 

It has been stated by some, who are anxious to have the honor of 
the oldest Presbyterian church go in another direction, that the Hemp- 
stead church has not had a continued existence. It is true that for a 
number of years after 1700, on account of the contest with, and final 
victory by, the Episcopal party, the church had no settled minister. 
But that does not necessarily mean that the church lost its existence. 
They were poor, few and confronted by a strong and eloquent Episco- 
pal ministry : and had to get what supplies they could. That they kept 
together at all and managed to perpetuate the name and victories of 
the church, indeed, is the miracle. At the present time we do not say 
that a church ceases to exist because there is no pastor or church build- 
ing. The Brooklyn Tabernacle has perished in the flames ; but the 
congregation has not ceased to exist, and will not. until tin y agree to 
disband and go as they individually desire. Woodbridge, in a letter 
written from San Francisco, Sept. 9, 1876, to the Rev. Franklin Noble, 
then pastor, says that he could never learn from any of the old people 
of his day. whose memory went back to a period preceding the revolu- 
tionary war, that this church had ever been re-organized ; but on the 
contrary had always been here. 

The subjoined list of pastors and supplies, which has been pre- 
pared after careful search, shows that there was little time when the 
church was without the ministrations of the Gospel. The list is as 
follows: Richard Denton, 1644-59: Jonas Fordham. 1659-1681: Jere- 
miah Hobart, 1682-1696; Joseph Lamb, 1717-1725; Benjamin Woosey. 
1736-1756; Abraham Kettletas, 1760-1765, stated supply; Hotchkiss, 
1770-'71, supply; Joshua Hart, 1772-'76, supply; and again, 1787-'90, 
supply; Samuel Sturges. 1791-93 supply ; Davenport. 1794-98, supply ; 
Joshua Hart, again. 1797-1803, supply: William P. Kupors, L805-'ll, 
pastor; Josiah Andrews, 1812-16, supply; Samuel Robertson. 1816— '18, 
supply; Charles Webster; March 16, 1818-37, pastor; Sylvester Wood- 
bridge, Feb.. 1838-'49, pastor: Charles M. Shields. 1849-'50, pastor: N. 
C. Locke, 1N50-60, pastor; J. J. A. Morgan, 1860-'67, pastor: James 
B. Finch, 1867-75, pastor; Franklin Noble, 1875-80. pastor: F. E. 
Hopkins, 1881-'82, supply; F. E. Hopkins, 1882-'84, pastor; Charles E. 
Dunn, July 21. 1884-88; John A. Davis. Jan.. 1890-Sept., '93; and 
Frank Melville Kerr, April 25th, 1894, present pastor. 

Criticism of the continuity of Presbyterianism in Hempstead 
during the eighteenth century advances the following points : 

1 . The records of this Century are not definite as to the details of 
the church's actions. 



—29- 



2. Dr. Hays, in his book entitled "Presbyterians,'' says that the 
Hempstead Church died in the year 1729. 

3. The fact that there were some supplies at different intervals 
during this time, when the continuity of the organization is in dis- 
pute, shows the presence of Congregationalism and the absence of Pres- 
byterianism. This criticism also says that an organization which 
meets in a private house is not a church. 

In reply to these points, it would be possible to argue at length 
and show that these conditions, when thoroughly understood, permit 
of different interpretation than has been placed upon them by those 
indulging in criticism. We simply reply to these points as briefly as 
possible: 

1 . The records of the 18th Century are not preserved f or us because 
they were consumed in the fire which destroyed the church building in 
the year 1803. None lament the loss sustained at that time more than 
the present writer, for there is no doubt about the fact that those 
destroyed records would have accounted for the difficulties of that 
eventful Century. 

2. Dr. Hays doubtless did not make full investigation of the facts 
here in Hempstead otherwise he would not have written that this 
church died in 1729. We quote a letter written in 1728 by the Rev. 
Robert Jenney. an Episcopal clergyman, who is mentioned as the one 
with whom the records of the present Episcopal Church commenced. 
He says : "The Church's right to all this, [the parsonage, etc.,] is hotly 
disputed, and I am often threatened with an ejectment ; first, by the heirs 
of one Ogdon. from whom the purchase was made ; secondly, by the Pres- 
byterians, who plead, from the purchase having been made by them, 
before any church [meaning the Episcopal church] was settled here, 
and from their minister having been long in possession of it. that it 
belongs to them." While this may show that they had been driven out of 
their possessicm, yet it certainly demonstrates that they still existed 
here in Hempstead and were able to make some kind of a noticeable 
resistance to the powers which were against them. It is to be noticed 
that this letter was written June 27th, 1728, just the year preceding 
the date of the death of this church as given by Dr. Hays. This cir- 
cumstance does not indicate immediate ecclesiastical death. 

Another fact must be borne in mind, which is of importance as far 
as circumstantial evidence is concerned, for it shows the way the 
Episcopal party conquered in their struggle for the possession of land 
and property owned and formerly used by the Presbyterians. It was 
not until 1735 that the question was settled. In that year George II. 
gave a charter to the Episcopal party which embraced all the land and 



—30— 

buildings in question. If it was necessary for the followers of the 
Rev. Robert Jenney to secure kingly protection for their claimed pos- 
sessions, it is evident that the Presbyterians must have aided the effort 
to eject them. If such an inference is allowable, it certainly shows 
that Dr. Hays is not correct in stating that the Presbyterian Church in 
this place ceased in 1729. 

There is still another consideration to be noticed. In 1722 the Pres- 
byterians erected a new church building on site of the first church. 
according to Thompson's MSS. for the third edition of his history ; and 
again in 1762. they built another church on the site of the present 
building. Now, the question comes up. if the Presbyterian Church 
died in 1729. according to Dr. Hays' statement, how did they manage, 
in less than a generation, to build a new church? Thompson and 
Woodbridge, a former pastor of this church, both agree in these dates 
as to the erection of church edifices. It seems allowable to conclude 
that the difficulties of that period did not kill the Presbyterians. We 
always have believed that the Presbyterians are made of good material, 
and we cannot give up the idea that our ecclesiastical ancestors were 
possessed of good qualities. 

If the original church, founded by Richard Denton, died in 1729, 
then the present Presbyterian Church must have originated much 
later. But we need only to refer to the testimony of the Rev. Sylvester 
Woodbridge, mentioned above, that none of the old people, whose mem- 
ory went back to a period before the Revolutionary War. ever heard of 
any tradition as to the reorganization of this church. They believed 
that it had always been here. 

3. In reference to supplies, it need oidy be said that circumstances 
placed this church in such a position that it was necessary to have min- 
isters come as supplies. There are Presbyterian churches at the present 
time served by supplies : but no one thinks of depriving them of their 
Presbyterianism on that account. The fact that they had pastors 
shows that they wished that condition of ecclesiastical relationship to 
continue indefinitely : but poverty, opposition and disaster often inter- 
fered with the consummation of their wish. Those who have seen the 
struggles of worthy congregations should not fail to appreciate the 
efforts they make to continue their organizations. 

There were times of severe oppression and opposition when it was 
necessary for them to meet from house to house; and yet criticism is 
made of such action as decidedly irregular. We are willingly to let 
the Apostle Paul pass judgment upon the regularity of such a proceed- 
ing, when circumstances require it. In Philemon 2, he says : " And to 
our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the 



-31— 

CHURCH IN THY HOUSE/' Again in Colossians 4 : 15, he says : 
"Salute the brethren which are in Eaodicea, and Nymphas, and the 
CHURCH WHICH IS IN HIS HOUSE." And again in I. Cor. 16 : 
19, he says: " Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with 
the CHRIST THAT IS IN THEIR HOUSE." 

The fact is that the time for which no minister or supply can be 
found was always one of some extraordinary circumstance over 
which the church had no control : but that does not prove that 
the organization ceased from off the face of the earth and required the 
enthusiasm and example of churches in other towns to revive it. 

Nathaniel Prime (History of L.I.) p. 282, quotes a letter from the 
Rev. Mr. Jenney to show that for nearly a third of the 18th century this 
church was not destitute of preaching. 

CONCLUSION. 

As the followers of Mohammed look to Mecca as the place where 
their religion originated, so the hosts of Presbyterians throughout this 
land look to Hempstead as the place where was established and settled 
the first Presbyterian Church in America. This is not only an ecclesi- 
astical, but national event. The influence of Presbyterianism upon the 
national development of this country has been remarkably extensive. 
Presbyterians have been loyal to the government because they believe 
in government. When the early statesmen were endeavoring to settle 
this country upon a right foundation, they wisely learned lessons from 
the integrity of the Presbyterian system ; and our country is Presby- 
terian to the extent of its representation. We then ask the patriot, 
regardless of his denominational tendency, to join with us in celebrat- 
ing the beginning of Presbyterianism in this western world because of 
the blessings which have come to all alike from the good influence 
which it has exerted. 

" The Mother of Presbyterianism " gladly welcomes her children to 
this her two hundred and fiftieth birthday. The Presbyterian churches* 
of many of the neighboring villages, which were formerly within the 
bounds of this parish, may well rejoice with us in the Mother who has 
brought to light and tenderly nourished, under difficulties, trials and 
persecutions, so many Gospel children. 

To those of us who are permitted to serve in this church at the 

present time, there come important and suggestive lessons. We stand 

on historic ground and are surrounded by evidences of former fidelity, 

bravery and victory. Presbyterian centuries are looking down upon us 

and watching our actions to see whether we are worthy such a line of 

*Rocka\vay. Christian Hook— now Oceanville— Freeport, Roslyn, Oyster Bay, 
Baldwins and Foster's Meadow were formerly in this parish. 



--32— 

ecclesiastical succession. To each of us the words of Heb. 12 : 1 are 
applicable. They are as follows: "Wherefore seeing we also are 
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside 
every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run 
with patience the race that is set before us * * *" 

Emerson says : "The world exists for the education of each man.'' 
This may be said of the history of this church. We are not to know 
the past merely to satisfy curiosity ; but to gather inspiration and hope 
from it for the pressing duties and demands of the present age. We 
know what it has cost to establish and perpetuate this church. We 
realize that our forefathers here had a victory of faith and patience. 
Regardless of the externals they kept up their trust and confidence in 
the promises of God. Our aim, then, should be to continue the fight 
for victory amid the distractions of a materialistic age. Faith, prayer 
and consecration are the graces which unite the individual members of 
Zion and enable them to become powerful as agents of righteousness. 
If we stop to congratulate ourselves over the great history which is in 
possession of our church, we will not be true to the demands of our 
times and the requirements of our Master. Our cry must be " Onward, 
Upward, Godward !" The allurements of this luxurious age must not 
take us away from the simple and sublime Gospel truths. We must 
believe and act upon the truth of this verse in Isaiah : 

"The grass withereth. the flower fadeth : 
But the word of our God shall stand forever."— 40: 8. 

[Note.— Since writing this address, the pasti >r has (.-nine into possession of the 
following lines, translated from the Latin on the tomb of Richard Denton, in 
Essex. England: 

" Here lies the dust of Richard Denton 
O'er his low peaceful grave bends 
The perennial cypress, tit emblem 
Of his unfading fame- 
On earth 

His bright example, religious light. 
Sin me forth o'er multitudes. 
In heaven 

His pure rob'd spirit shines 
Like an effulgent star."] 

At the close of the historical address the choir rendered an 
anthem ; and then the pastor referred to the fact that about 
fifty communications had been received from individuals, 
Presbyteries and committees in response to the invitations 
which had been sent throughout the land. It was impossible 
for all these to be read, as it is impossible to print all at this 
time; but a few were read to show the spirit in which the 




WlW. F. CONKLIN. 
PERCY 15. BKOMFIELD. 



THE SESSION. 

J. E. Davidson. 

F. M. Kker, (Moderator.) 

Luke Fleet. 



Dr. C. H. Ludlum. 

'P. F. GlI.liKRT. 



—33— 

invitations had been received and the congratulations of Pres- 
byteries from one end of our nation to the other. With the 
letters of former pastors, who were unable to be present, we 
print a few of the letters, which have been already mentioned. 
These letters are as follows : 

To the Pastor and People of the First Presbyterian Church of 
Hempstead, L. I. 

Greeting: 

The Presbyterian Ministerial Association of Philadelphia extends 
to you its most hearty congratulations, in view of the fact that you 
have reached the two hundred and fiftieth mile-stone in y< >ur historic 
career. 

In celebrating this interesting and important event, be assured. 
dear Brethren, that we unite with you most gladly. 

As you look hack upon the two and a half centuries which have 
passed since your fathers laid the corner stone of the " First Presby- 
terian Church in America," and note the marvelous development of 
our beloved Zion, during this eventful period of human history, it can- 
not fail to afford you great satisfaction, and at the same time awaken 
in your breasts profound gratitude to Almighty God that y< m are the 
lineal descendants of those nohle pioneers of the faith, who sowed the 
seed of Presbyterianism in American soil, which has at length heen 
scattered from sea to sea, and produced a harvest to the glory of God, 
majestic in its proportions, and unsurpassed in its quality. 

Among the tens of thousands of your children who to-day rise up 
to bless you, we gladly take our stand; and we gratefully join with all 
your legitimate descendants in according you all the honor that prop- 
erly attaches to you in view of your venerable age and noble record. 

" May grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and the Lord 
Jesus Christ, be with you all. Amen.*' 

Adopted by the Presbyterian Ministerial Association of Philadel- 
phia, Oct. 15th, 1894. 

Rev. Arthur W. Spooner. 
Rev. R. H. Fulton. D.D.. 
Rev. J. Addison Henry. D.D.. 

Committee. 

Union Theological Seminary. New York, October 18th. 1894. 
The Rev. Frank M. Kerr. Hempstead. L. I.. X. Y. 

My Dear Friend: It would he a great pleasure to me if I could 
personally participate in the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
the church of which voir are pastor. I shall think of you to-morrow 
and the succeeding days, for it is very rare in this young country to 
find a church so old and venerable. I trust that this long history may 
be a steady culmination in usefulness and prosperity, and I believe, 
with all my heart, that you will carry on the work there in such a 
manner as such a history demands. 
With sincere regard, 

Cordially yours, 

Thos. S. Hastings. 



-& c 



—34— 

Princeton University. New Jersey. October 12. is<)4. 
The Rev. Frank Melville Kerr, Pastor of "Christ's First Church," 
Hempstead. 

Reverend and Dear Brother : Since my return to Princeton I 
have been hoping that I might be able to accept your very kind and 
thoughtful invitation to attend the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
of the establishment of the Presbyterian Church in Hempstead. But I 
regret to find that I can only offer in response my written salutations 
and good wishes. 

It is more than forty years since I received ordination from the Pres- 
bytery of Long Island as Pastor of this ancient Church. I had come 
fresh from the Theological Seminary with a few scholastic sermons. 
which I soon found to be unsuitable. My discriminating hearers must 
have thought them not very practical. I have never ceased to feel 
grateful to the people of Hempstead for the considerate kindness with 
which they endured my inexperience and loyally aided me in all the 
pastoral work. There was a strong attachment between us : they had 
called me to be their pastor unanimously, even a second time ; and 
whatever deficiencies appeared in my services, I always felt sure of 
their sympathy. Sermons which pleased them, written especially for 
them. I have since preached acceptably in large city congregations and 
before audiences of scholars at Princeton. 

I have now before me while I write, the original call of " Christ's 
First Church, of Hempstead." dated April 11. 1*49. and signed by David 
Hendrickson, Eldred Piatt, and Charles M. Pine, Elders. It promised 
a salary of " five hundred dollars and the use of the parsonage." a gen- 
erous maintenance in those days. As I could not occupy the parson- 
age. I applied the rental in carriage hire, for I could drive six miles in 
almost any direction and find families who came to the village church. 
I made a map of the parish which, if I can find it. I will send for your 
acceptance. 

My pastorate of a few months was too brief to yield much visible 
fruit. I remember that, with the help of the session. I organized Sun- 
day Schools and special services at Foster's Meadow. Raynor South and 
Hempstead Harbor : and hoped that my season of sowing and planting 
might lie followed by an abundant increase. 

As I look back through the shadowy past to the scene of a youthful 
ministry, my heart is full of solemn and tender recollections, and I 
pray God to shed the choicest blessings upon both pastor and people of 
this venerable church and prolong its usefulness through coming gener- 
ations. . Believe me, 

Very faithfully yours. 

Charles W. Shields. 

Dubuque. Iowa. Oct. 5th, 1894. 

My Dear Brother Kerr : The very cordial invitation I have just 
received to the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Christ's First 
Presbyterian Church awakens a great many memories which I shall 
always cherish as the most precious things of this life. 

The Presbyterian Church in Hempstead was really my first love, 
and I have never known a church which can occupy the same place in 
my heart. 

I was ordained while acting as stated supply, the date of the service 



—35— 

being October 11, 1882, and I regard it as a fortunate coincidence that 
the twelfth anniversary of that, to me. interesting event, and the two 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Church should occur within 
three days of each other. 

Great changes have taken place in the Church even in the short 
time which has elapsed since first I knew it. The old fashioned high 
pulpit with its formidable battlemented front has passed away. The 
boxes into which the galleries were divided have been modernized by 
opera chairs. The interior decoration, probably designed to represent 
such a Grecian heathen temple as never was, has given place to a better 
art. and the corrugated roof is something one can sit under with a 
composure it is impossible to feel when one fears that a portion of the 
ceiling may drop and possibly open a too sudden exit into eternity. 
And the organ. &c, &c. All these things have kept pace with the im- 
provement of Hempstead itself, and convince me that it was a blessing 
to the Church that I left and made room for the men of genius, who. 
have so successfully set the house in order. 

But there have been other changes which have left you not as you 
were. Elder Kellum and Mr. Hendrickson of Queens. Mrs. Luke Fleet, 
than whom the Church never had a more indefatigable worker. Mrs. 
Gildersleeve. a sweet saint sitting in the glowing sunset of a long and 
holy life, so near the gates ajar that we almost saw the glory of heaven 
in her face. And Dr. Davidson, in his great age. white as an almond 
tree, and firm as oak in his loyalty to the Church and to the truth of 
God. And John Phraner, modest, calm and wise. And Richard Lo- 
sea, one of the very purest of men, and his helpmate Hannah. How 
you must all miss such as these ! 

But a Church that has survived two hundred and fifty such years 
as have passed over the towers of the oldest Presbyterian Church in 
this country, need never fear. There is not a doctrine of our most holy 
faith, not a principle of our beloved government, not an opinion that 
has at length taken form and become a part of the substance of this 
great nation, but it has first in some measure been considered from this 
old pulpit. 

Around about you sleep the warriors of Christ that have seen the 
false pretence of the enemies of the L ord Jesus during the past two 
hundred and fifty years, humbled before the all conquering cross : and 
in these same graves sleep the veterans and the heroes of the greatest 
wars ever waged for the rights of man. Those who marched under 
Washington, and those who marched under Grant, side by side. And 
the old Church baptized them in infancy, consecrated them in youth 
and buried them after they had shown the world by their self sacrifice 
that they had not been disobedient to the visions received within the 
walls of old Zion. 

Glorious church, because so honored and honored because so useful 
and fruitful. May she whose spire was lifted as one of the first Beacons 
and Pilgrims in this new land, remain until the last Pilgrim has found 
his way to a country where there is no need of any temple, and then 
may she be presented unto God. without spot or wrinkle, or any such 
thing. •• The Lord bless thee and keep thee, the Lord be gracious unto 
thee, the Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon thee and give 
thee peace." Yours sincerely. 

Frederick E. Hopkins. 



—36— 

Auburn, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1894. 
To the Rev. F. M. Ken-. 

Dear Bro. : Permit me to acknowledge the invitations so kindly 
addressed to the Presbytery of Cayuga, and to myself to attend the 
Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the First Presl yterian 
Church in America. 

The Presbytery of Cayuga will not be in session again till Nov. 
20th, so I cannot formally present the invitation to that body until that 
date: but I am sure I may assume, as slated clerk, to send th i Presby- 
tery's wannest greetings, as I do my own personal ones, to the Hemp- 
stead Church and to you, its pastor. It was my pleasant exp< ri< nee to 
spend a Sunday in Hempstead and to preach there some years ago: so 
although they may none of them remember me I do not feel wholly the 
stranger: and surely they will not count as such the one who was for a 
time the pastor of their pastor, and to whose influence they are in a 
measure at least ind< 1 ted for his share in persuading you to enter the 
ministry. 

Two hundred and fifty years, a quarter of a millennium, from the 
Rev. Richard Denton to the Rev. Frank M. Kerr — what a lapse of 
years ! What a glimpse into the past. 

It reminds me of my brother-in-law, the late Rev. Charles T. Der- 
ing, showing to a friend visiting him on Long Island a tombstone with 
its date and inscription, and saying: "That man. you see. died the 
year George Washington was born."" " What." replied the friend. 
•• Died the year Washington was born ? Why, I should think he must 
have known Columbus!" 

The traditions of Hempstead do not go back to the coming of 
( Jolumbus, but G-od grant the life and prosperity of the Church may go 
forward unbroken to that other coming for which we look and pray, 
the second advent of our Lord, whose is and shall be not only the mil- 
lennial. 1 ut the eternal glory. 

With prayers for His blessing on your Church and yourself. 

Fraternally yours. 

Edw'd. P. Sprague. 



The Rev. S. A. Muchmore, I). D.. of Philadelphia. Pa., 
Moderator of the General Assembly, was requested to speak a 
few words and responded in the following manner: 

I shall speak briefly at this time, for my principal address will be 
given this evening. I am sorry that I missed the train by three min- 
utes in Long Island City, for the delay in waiting for another train 
caused me to miss the historical address which has just been given by 
the pastor of this venerable Church. I should have enjoyed hearing 
the recital of the former experiences of this organization from the lips 
of your young pastor, for there are so many things of interest and import- 
ance connected with so much history that the vigor and enthusiasm of 
youth would he called niton to do justice to the occasion. 

But I did the best thing I could under the circumstances. Having 



—37— 

a copy of the address in my pocket, I spent the time in reading it over 
two or three times, so I think I have the facts in mind about as well as 
those of you who have just listened to its delivery. 

I am glad tc he present at this time and congratulate you upon ar- 
ranging a proper celebration to do honor to the Church which is the 
mother of us all. I am glad to look into the faces of those who have 
descended from the early founders and hope that you all will possess 
the spirit of devotion to spiritual and religious things which charac- 
terized those who wrought for the glory and honor of God. 

Addresses by the Rev. S. T. Carter and Former Pastors. 

The Rev. Samuel T. Carter, of Hunting-ton, representative 
of Nassau Presbytery, was introduced and spoke in his usual 
attractive manner. We quote the principal features of his ad- 
dress as recorded by the reporter of The Hempstead Inquirer. 
They are as follows : 

A brief address was made by the Rev. Samuel T. Carter, of Hunt- 
ington, representing the Presbytery of Nassau. He referred to the 
propriety of his appointment to represent the Presbytery, as he was 
pastor of the Church in the Presbytery next oldest to that of Hemp- 
stead and Jamaica. The speaker read from the old records showing 
that in old times it was the custom to pay the minister in pork, mutton, 
butter, chickens, &c. Now, said the speaker, it is the custom for the 
pastor to get his mutton quarterly. The Church of God works by in- 
stitutions, and the institutions live when man dies. Sunday is one of 
these institutions. The Bible is another. The Church is the fountain 
head of good laws, and the Bible is on the side of good laws. Through 
the Church, colleges, cities, towns and States have been founded. He 
concluded by extending to the Church the congratulations of the Pres- 
bytery. 

The Rev. Charles E. Dunn, of the Third Presbyterian 

Church, of Albany, who was pastor of the Church from 1884 

to 1888, being- introduced, spoke in part as follows : 

Two hundred and fifty years of history is the unique distinction of 
the Hempstead Presbyterian Church. Unlike some of the gentler sex 
she is not ashamed of her age. She publishes it broadcast over the 
land. Why should she be ashamed of it? She is younger at two 
hundred and fifty than she was at one hundred and fifty. The blood 
of two and a half centuries coursing through the arteries of this old 



—38— 

veteran is giving a ruddier glow to Presbyterianism in Hempstead 
than ever before in her history. Men may come and men may go, 
but the Church goes on forever. When I look at this one element 
of age I feel that my little pastorate wedged in between 1884 and 
1888 might be pushed out altogether and the old girders might creak 
and the walls crack, but no other signs of displacement would be dis- 
cernible. Those four years were years of experiment and profit to me. 
They were years of patience and resignation on the part of the congre- 
gation. I am not sure that the Church would have lived to celebrate 
her two hundred and fiftieth anniversary if her patience had been 
taxed much longer than it was. Be that as it may. I follow the course 
of this Church with increasing interest, and shall always look back 
with affection to the fellowships and friendships that were formed in 
Hempstead. They grow brighter as the years go on. Only Heaven it- 
self will reveal what sheaves were gathered. 

The Rev. }. A. Davis, pastor of the Church from 1890 to 
1893, was the last speaker at the afternoon service. His ad- 
dress was as follows : 

Those who trace analogies see a close one between th? marriage 
relation and that existing between paste a- and Church. Yet. to press 
this analogy 1 rings some amusing complications. Not only do ecclesi- 
astical divorces become common, the causes are slight. The church 
grows tireel of her spouse, falls in love with ane)ther. n< gli < ts her own. 
treats him with indifference, makes life uncomfortable, and forces him 
to turn away. She, growing vigorous with age, learns to despise as 
marks of antiquity appear on him, and treats him as farmers, with 
more economy than mercy, treat faithful horses who have outlived 
their usefulness. Indeed, the resemblance is more akin to that just 
suggested; for as soon as the pastor fails "to draw'' the church and 
everything she has for transportation, he is summarily unharnessed 
and turned out, without further consideration. Nor is blame alone on 
the sid" of the church. Not waiting for his spouse to cast him off. the 
pastor seeks another who will be more likely to treat him well, and at 
once, discovering such an one, his affections may be transferred: and 
he goes with them. Thus the couple break the sacred vows made be- 
fore God and His Church, as if they were merely ties of convenience. 

Yet, when did a pastor ever turn from a church because it was old? 
Are not the venerable churches more sought after than the youthful? 
And who ever heard of an ecclesiastical maiden denying her age or 
1 oasting of her youth when in the matrimonial market? 



—39— 

This so-called marriage relation presents a rather remarkable com- 
bination here to-day. The young pastor who a few months ago clasped 
the hand of his bride, whose age is nearly ten times his own, stands 
among the ex-husbands, the honored of all. We meet him and her 
with congratulations, and no hand searches for a weapon to revenge 
ourselves because he won her affections. We feel as happy as he and 
as satisfied; nor have we one thought of envy. If ours to look forward, 
we might see him later an ex-husband by our sides, and another occu- 
pying the place he so worthily fills. But prophecy is not moving that 
way to-day. Instead, I wish to pastor and church the greatest happi- 
ness, longest life together, and most prosperity of the history of this 
clmrch. 

Though celebrating her quarter millennium, she presents no marks 
of age, surely none of decreptitude. Nor has paint or powder covered 
up wrinkles and tokens of antiquity. She begins her second quarter 
millennium with far brighter prospects than her first. L ike the ven- 
erable but vigorous centenarian, ordering a new pair of shoes after 
he had passed his first century of life, she can say, as he, when the hope 
was expressed that he would live to complete his second century, "I 
expect to. I begin this, larger, wiser, stronger than I did the other." 
The old church has had enough experience to be able to prove an ex- 
ample for her more than ten thousand children, (counting in all Pres- 
byterian Churches in America), and to become a leader among them in 
faith and good works. Grood examples are needed in our day, no 
less in church than individual life. There is no more need of mar- 
tyrs for the truth in the Presbyterian Church; we have a full supply 
of truth, what we need now is practice. When churches and men can 
develop enough modern sense to realize that former centuries were for 
martyrs, this for missions, they will find out what they live for. If this 
old church starts out with the new era for making herself felt as a 
Christian body, active, aggressive, persistent, sympathetic, to bring man 
and Jesus together, she will prove herself worthy the honored place she 
occupies — Mother op the Presbyterian Church in America. 

To make its future what the record of the mother church should 
be, it needs, must have, two wants supplied. It must have a spirit of 
sacrifice and the spirit of sanctification. Unless it have both, its future 
will be but a name and a shadow. 

It is not the thought that this church needs more than others these 
two qualifications. All need, if some more than others, the spirit that 
prompted the Master in His work. He counted not Himself, nor 
spared Himself ; but freely gave all for man. The more this church 
will imitate Christ in that respect, the more will be its promise, pro- 



—40— 

gress. power, prosperity. Well may the Master's utterance be em- 
phasized, "Without Me ye can do nothing." His is the spirit that 
conquers : and its conquests grow in greatness and multitude as men 
learn more of human needs and earthly weakness. 

This church needs the Holy Spirit. Until He come in mighty pow- 
er there will be slow growth and quiet satisfied lethargy, and yet will 
remain in multitudes who are living Godless, and unless more be done 
will die Christless. Not until that Spirit arouse church members to 
see their duty and to do faithfully their work, as never done by ihem 
before, will this venerable body rise to its true position of honor, duty 
and responsibility. There needs a sanctifying of everything connected 
with the church until the very tips of fingers and toes are influenced 
by divine grace and love. Then a prayer meeting will be more delight- 
ful to every one than a card party, and a place of devotion more at- 
tractive than a dance. 

To get this Spirit — both of sacrifice and service — there needs more 
submission, more supplication. Until you are ready to lay all on the 
altar of the Master, you will get neither. Is it not worth while to get 
both V What will be the value of selfishness a few tens of years hence? 
What of sacrifice and service ? 

After singing, 

" Lord of hosts! how lovely is 

The place where thou dost dwell I" 

the benediction was pronounced by Dr. Muchmore, and the 
congregation dispersed to partake of the bountiful collation in 
the chapel, which the ladies had made remarkably inviting. 

At the evening service the pastor presided and announced as 
the first hymn, "All hail the power of Jesus' name," which was 
heartily sung by the large audience which crowded the church 
to the doors. The Scripture Lesson was read by the Rev. J. W. 
Maynard, of the M. E. Church, and prayer was offered by the 
Rev. C. E. Dunn. The choir rendered several anthems in a 
very successful manner. 

The pastor then introduced the Rev. J. D. Wells, D. D., of 
Brooklyn, who delivered the following excellent address up- 
on "The Venerable Church in Relation to the Present and 
Future": 



—41— 
Address by the Rev. J. D. Wells, D. D. 

I have known this venerable church about one-sixth of its entire 
life. But this is a small fraction of a large whole number. How little 
forty-four years signify in relation to two hundred and fifty, and to 
successive generations of Christian men and women, who lived and toiled 
and suffered and died in this Church organization ! Not by calling on the 
living, whatever their age, can the beginnings and the earliest years of 
this enterprise be laid open to us. Your reliance must be upon MS. 
records and printed books; and some of these are not easy to find. We 
all owe much to the patient research of your young pastor, and con- 
gratulate you and him on the result. The truth of history is worth all 
it costs, of money and labor. 

It is fitting that churches as well as individuals should remember 
all the way by which God has led them, whether the measure thereof 
be decades or centuries. There are no patriarchs of the earliest type to 
review the centuries for us. Indeed, not many persons who were active 
in the Church when I first knew it remain to share in these commemo- 
rative services. Nor would it be very helpful for me to indulge largely in 
reminiscence were I inclined to do it. To only two contrasted matters 
will I venture to refer. 

There was once a little disturbance of the peace and serenity of the 
congregation. If asked to do so I could not name the parties then at 
variance or the cause of their difference. The venerable Dr. Jonathan 
Greenleaf, and myself, a comparatively young man, were sent by 
Presbytery, at the request _of the people, if possible to calm the agita- 
tion and make peace. We spent a night at the same house and in 
rooms adjacent to each other. There was a thin partition between us 
and in the deep night I heard Dr. Greenleaf pleading with God that we 
might have wisdom and grace for our difficult and important work, 
and that hearts here somewhat estranged might be made one in Christ 
Jesus, and by the Holy Spirit of peace. 

The other and contrasted matter I find referred to in a record made 
at the time and bearing date Oct. 6 to the 8th, 1856, in the following 
words: 

" At Hempstead attending the meeting of the Presbytery of Nassau. 
It was a delightful meeting, the most so of any I have ever attended. I 
think I see the dawn of a bright day in regard to the effect of meetings 
of Presbytery on Ministers, Ruling Elders, and the Churches. At my 
request our people prayed on Tuesday' night for Presbytery, and for the 
Church where we were to meet. A beginning was made in our Free 



—42— 

Convention to speak of the state of our own souls, and this promises to 
he useful — " 

I am sorry to add that in the rush of these past years our city Pres- 
byteries give little time to anything but routine business. 

Brit I may not indulge further in reminiscence. The present and 
the future have strong drains upon our thought. 

The great cities west of you are sending hither their families by 
the hundred. They are finding homes in your broad territory and in- 
viting streets. With other Christian Churches you are to welcome 
them and give them congenial church homes, if they are confessors of 
Christ. If they are not, yon are to win them, if possible, by God's 
blessing on the gospel of his Son, and to your own manifested love for 
their souls. May you have grace to be in full accord with all other 
friends of Christ here in this important and blessed work. 

There is such a thing as Christian Churches provoking one another to 
love and good works; and they are to be commended and congratulated 
who give most provocation of this Scriptural kind, and least occasion 
for any one to say that they are not doing their part of the common 
work, or that they are trenching upon the ground that fairly belongs to 
others. 

Holding thought still to the present, consider what you are as a 
Christian Church, and what our Lord has a right to expect of you. 

When St. Paul wrote to a Church which he had founded after a few 
weeks of service, and from which he was driven to Berea further to the 
west, and a little later to Athens and Corinth at the south, he began 
thus: " Unto the Church of the Thessalonians which is in God the 
Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ." By which I understand that 
the organic life of that particular Church was inseparable from God the 
Father and the L ord Jesus Christ. In other words, there were individual 
Christians banded together in Church relations, at Thessalonica. whose 
lives were hid with Christ in God, and therefore the Church itself had 
its life so hid. 

I understand precisely the same thing in regard to this Church of 
Hempstead. And if I had occasion to write a Christian letter to this 
Church. I should have no hesitation to begin it with these suggestive 
and very impressive words: " Unto Christ's First Church at Hempstead. 
L . I., in God, the Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, grace unto yon 
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." 

Indeed, if comparisons were allowable. I should not think myself at 
fault in saying that this Church, having had an uninterrupted life of two 
hundred and fifty years, and possession of the finished Bible, is much 
more likely to have larger and strong relation to the great truths of 



-43— 

revelation, and to the one God of the Bible, the Father and Son and the 
Holy Ghost, than the Church of the Thessalonians gathered not long 
before out of a pagan city, and not in possession of a single printed copy 
of the Old Testament, or the manuscript copy of any book of the New 
Testament except the single letter of St. Paul. For it is the common 
judgment of the most eminent, conservative and Godly students and 
interpreters of Scripture that the first Epistle to the Thessalonians was 
the earliest of all the Pauline Epistles and even of the books of the New 
Testament. 

But comparisons aside. I beg you to take firm hold of the truth that 
if you are a true Christian Church, as I believe you are, it is .because 
there are here members of the body and flesh and bones of Jesus Christ, 
children of God and temples of the Holy Ghost. Let these high and 
sacred relations make you ever true to Him who has kept you as a 
Church for so many years. You are drawn to Jesus Christ individually, 
and to each other in these Church relations, not merely that you may 
be saved. You are to incarnate the gospel, hold it forth in your lives 
from day to day for the salvation of others and the glory of God. Indi- 
vidually you are not burdened with the weight of two and a half cen- 
turies. Yon are rather helped than hindered by these many years. 
Generations go and others come. The coming ones inherit much from 
those that go. A Church located as this Church is, is ever young. I 
venture the statement that the averages of ages is quite as low as it was 
at the organization. October. 1644, and the members are more numer- 
ous. Your surroundings are all changed. You have opportunities and 
facilities for Christian works not dreamt of at first. You draw inspira- 
tions from the entire history of our nation, and of the Church in our 
land and world. With reference to openings for work you are in a 
larger land and world than were the fathers. But with relation to fa- 
cilities for reaching and blessing their remotest parts, the land and the 
world are very small. Keep this in mind. Give much thought to it. 
Adapt 3 T ourselves to your surroundings near and far away. Influences 
to bless the whole race go out from centres like this, when they go by 
way of the throne of grace. The Living Stream of Prayer directs and 
applies them as seems good in His sight. A Church that lives for itself 
alone is dying and will soon be dead. You cannot have lived for your- 
selves hitherto, or this anniversary would be impossible. And you 
will not imperil your Church life in the future. The motives for Godly 
living and Church activity that find their power in the Person and Cross 
of Christ are enough to constrain lis. May you feel them as never be- 
fore. I have referred to your wide relations to the entire Church of 
Christ and to the whole world as the field of Christian service. 



—44— 

Suffer a word in relation to your own part of the Christian Church. 
Your history is her history. You have known suffering in her behalf 
and live to praise the Lord. Be encouraged to share in her worship 
and work. Be faithful as stewards of the Lord's treasure. Christ's 
First Church. Hempstead, is a Presbyterian Church, an organic part of 
the Presl yterian Church in the United States of America. If I may so 
speak, the fibres of your church life run through the Presl ytery of Nas- 
sau to the Synod of New York, the successive assemblies of the Church 
in all the land, and reach the whole Presl yt rian Church. And along 
these living fibres run to and fro influences more subtle and powerful 
and beneficent than any on telegraphic wires. Show as fully as you can 
in the entire work of our Church at home and abroad if you would 
have the largest possible local benediction, and the sweet consciousness 
that you are doing the will of Christ, who is head over all things to the 
Church in the whole world. 

As to tin- future, we know nothing of what awaits us individually 
here on earth — whether prosperity or adversity, health or sickness, 
many years or few years. But with the hope of salvation laid up for 
us in heaven, we have no need to take thought for the morrow, for the 
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. 

But the future of separate churches is largely under God in the 
keeping of their living members. Else wise why such messages as Jesus 
Christ sent down from heaven to the angels of the seven churches of 
Asia (a single province of what we know as Asia Minor). We need not 
trouble ourselves about the question who the angels of these churches 
were, whether the pastors or not. The letters were for the churches. On 
their individual members largely depended the continued existence and 
prosperity of the churches named. And these letters are for the 
churches of L ong Island and the world now. Who is not thrilled by 
the promises to him that overcometh with which they close ? Any one 
of the seven is a mighty inspiration to fidelity in service. Take the last 
one " to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans"; the Church that, 
as the Saviour knew it, was neither hot nor cold, and to which He gave 
such earnest direction: " I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the 
fire." It closes with these words so wonderful that we can only guess 
at their meaning until we are forever with the Lord: "To him (the 
individual) that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne 
even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne." 
Rev. 3:21. 

My brethren, you have inherited a sacred trust. It is very prec- 
ious, too. Take it to your hearts. It is a treasure committed to your 
use; for increase, for transmission, and for accounting. And what 



—45— 

shall the accounting be ? Talents multiplied or talents hid ? Come, ye 
blessed ? or depart, ye cursed ? 

This is an individual matter. Church organizations will have an- 
swered their purposes when our Lord comes the second time without sin 
unto salvation. There will be no arraigning of separate Churches, or 
Sessions, or Presbyteries, or Synods, or General Assemblies, or any 
other church organizations. Every one of us shall give account of him- 
self to God. Individual Christians, old and young, give character to 
churches and largely determine their future. Personal influence is 
wonderful. It fills the thoughtful with awe. It takes effect on men 
and — I say it reverently — it reaches the throne of God. 

Many years ago a revival of great power suddenly began in the 
Presbyterian Church of Southampton, on this Island. It surprised the 
pastor and elders. The members of the church generally could not ac- 
count for it. There had been a long time of comparative coldness and 
the dew of divine grace was withheld. While the revival continued all 
were too deeply interested to make inquiry about its origin. But when 
the ingathering was completed the inquiry began. 

In the congregation there was a venerable woman destitute of a 
home, but greatly respected and loved. Infirm in health, she could 
enter the house of God only as she was carried thither. She was an 
object of compassion, and, as her presence in any house was regarded 
as a benediction, she was made the guest of several families in suc- 
cession. Amid the general surprise at the sudden and powerful revival 
she was thoughtful and calm and simply remarked: "I am not sur- 
prised at the revival. I have long been praying that the Lord would 
suddenly come to his temple." After this it came to be generally be- 
lieved that this poor old saint had obtained the promise of God by her 
faith. Others in all ages have had similar power. The eleventh chap- 
ter of Hebrews is to the honor and glory of faith in men and women, 
named and unnamed, who lived and suffered and died in darker ages 
than ours. Perhaps similar power of faith as the gift of God's is wait- 
ing for kindred sufferings. I prefer to believe that it waits only for oc- 
casions. And they are here and now. " Here" in the constant call for 
the work of faith and the labor of love, that souls may be saved and 
God glorified. '• Note" in the rail that comes from the ends of the earth 
for the prayer of faith that the word of God may have free course and 
run and be glorified. 

At a farewell missionary meeting of great interest, held at our 
Mission House, September 28th, to send forth men and women to Syria. 
India and China with prayer and words of cheer, we had brief ad- 
dresses from three of the missionaries. Dr. Ford, of Syria, and Dr. 



—46— 

Thackwell, of India — both men returning to their fields after long ser- 
vice and greatly needed rest — made most encouraging statements as to 
the people whom they represented. 

But what think you was the burden of their hearts? Earnestly 
and pathetically they plead that God's people would pray for those 
among whom they were about to resume their work. With all the em- 
phasis of tender and all but tearful statement they declared that every- 
thing was ready for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Young 
men from the government schools of India, schools in which the Bible 
is not used, and many from the mission schools, in which it is largely 
used, are forming bands to search the Scriptures. They come by their 
representatives to the missionaries to ask the meaning of particular 
passages of the Word. They are tired of Hindooism and its Pantheism. 
They wish to know whether there is a Personal Clod with whom they 
have to do. What relation they bear to him? What to the eternity 
beyond these swift years of time? And must they give account of 
themselves to the Personal God if He exists ? 

Oh ! fathers and mothers, young men and maidens of this oldest 
Presbyterian Church in the country, is there no latent power of prayer 
among you by which, as the months and years of the future pass, you 
can help forward the work of salvation here and in all lands, and so 
hasten the coming of our L ord Jesus Christ ? You wish to meet him 
in peace and triumph. You belong to the great sacramental host of 
believers in all the world to whom the Master's commission is given to 
make disciples of all the nations. 

I beseech you that this remarkable anniversary may not be made 
merely or chiefly a time of good cheer and mutual congratulations, but 
rather of self-consecration to the loving Saviour, who died for you and 
lives to save you from your sins; consecration to the church which he 
purchased with his own blood; and consecration to the great cause for 
which he lives and reigns, and for helping which you are made kings 
and priests unto God. 

At the close of this address the audience had the pleasure 
of listening to a solo by Mr. Albert A. Day, which was rendered 
in an artistic manner. 

The pastor then introduced the Rev. S. A. Muchmore, D. D., 
of Philadelphia, Moderator of the General Assembly, who 
spoke with his usual wit, pathos and eloquence, as follows : 




J. Seymour Snedeker. 
Jos. D. Armstrong, (Fres't.) 
S. Alonzo Smith. 



BOARD OF TRUSTEES. 

T. W. Albertson. 
R. W. Rhodes. 



Ebenezer Kellum. 
J. P. H. de Windt. 
S. S. Smith, Jk. 



—47— 

Address of the Rev. 5. A. Muchmore, D. D. 

As I looked around this Church and village during the interval for 
the collation, I noticed something for which yon should be thankful— 
that is the graveyard which adjoins your Church. Nothing is better 
for the prosperity of a Church than a graveyard, and measured in that 
way you should have a great deal of success in this Church. It is at the 
grave that the history of a man begins. When he is alive there are many 
things to interfere with a proper estimate of his life: but. as soon as 
death hushes the harsh criticisms which the best act and highest motive 
are sure to receive in this world, then are the people willing to speak of 
the goodness of the man and the influential character he possessed. At 
this time you are calling to mind the days of old and recounting the 
deeds of honor, valor and devotion, which were accomplished by those 
who once walked this earth and encountered its joys and sorrows, but 
who are now enjoying the rewards of glory while their bodies in yonder 
graveyard await the dawn of resurrection day. When you deal with 
such mysterious principles as life, death and immortality, you are able 
to overlook the mistakes of the past generations and study only their 
virtues and learn from them the way in which they overcame difficul- 
ties and achieved success. In this spirit the study of the past becomes 
beneficial; and a Church with such a graveyard around it cannot afford 
to live 4> at a poor dying rate." You do your duty in showing respect 
for the dead; and you should catch the spirit of their zeal and fulfill 
your mission before the time of death comes to you. Your activities 
will be of an earnest character and you will realize that the record by 
which God and man will judge you must be made while life lasts. 

This Church is one in which heredity plays an important part, for it 
has been established on the covenant relation expressed by the Lord in 
dealing with the patriarchs of the Old Testament time. The covenant 
made with Abraham was not only for himself but also for his children; 
and it is in this sense that God has established his kingdom in this 
world. This Church is yours because of the fact that it belonged to 
your fathers; and it is for your children because it is at present in your 
possession. It is the great privilege of the parents to bring up their 
children in the fear of the L ord and with the understanding that they 
are a part of this visible kingdom of God so that they will be ready at 
the proper time to publicly ratify the covenant made with their parents 
for their benefit, and show a determination to stand for the cause of 
right and truth in this world of sin and temptation. It is on account of 
this relationship between the parents and children in this Church that 
it will continue in future time. It has the principle of perpetuity in its own 



—48— 

possession, and a proper regard for the value of it will develop right ac- 
tion on the part of the generations which are to follow yon in this re- 
ligions organization. 

This, as a representative of the Presbyterian Church, is a Church 
which is founded upon doctrines formulated out of God's Word. Its 
teaching is in the direction of harmony and unity. In view of recent 
disturbances in the Church, it might seem that harmony is not one of 
our principal features; bnt. in this respect, we are somewhat like the 
Irishman who said that when he was married the minister informed him 
that he and his wife were one, but to hear them talk sometimes one 
would think th sre were about half a dozen of them. This loud talk on 
the part of the Irishman and his wife did not set aside the fact of the 
unity of the marriage relation; nor does debate and contest overthrow 
the unity of th i Presbyterian Church. It is a Church which establishes 
the fundamentals of the Gospel and endeavors to bring comfort, joy 
and peace to the sorrowing hearts of the human race. 

It was from the grave of Christ that the world received the great 
lesson of the resurrection of the dead. There is to be life after death, 
and this thought is applicable to us at this time, for the principle which 
the dead fought for in their time is to be carried out by this generation. 
That principle is the "pure religion and nndefiled in the sight of God 
the Father," which enables every Church to arouse the people of the 
present day to the importance of the spiritual life. What the Church 
of God needs is a revival of spiritual life. It does not want too 
much graveyard, for then yon will have nothing but " hark from the 
tombs." Sometimes a Church may live too much upon the past. This 
is a danger which must be avoided, for there is not certainty of progress 
as a result of it. The students at Princeton used to say that they had 
bread and water for breakfast, water and bread for dinner and past 
recollections for supper. That kind of fare was not conducive to physi- 
cal development. If you try to live on past recollections here you will 
not fulfill the meaning of this anniversary nor show yourselves worthy 
the historical position which you occupy. The past is secure. You can- 
not change it. Your privilege now is to face the future. 

Id view of the fact that we arc unable to givea full account 
of Dr. Muchmore's address, we quote from his account of the 
celebration, as it appeared in The Presbyterian, of Philadelphia. 
of which he is the editor. Me writes as follows : 

Going Back. 

[EDITORIAL ( '< IRRESPONDENCE.] 
Only the old will contend about the superiority which years give: 



-49- 

only the Chinese adore the aged. Even history has been relegated to a 
mouldy grave, and the present glorified in its stead. Only in the anni- 
versary years of the last quarter of a century has the past arrested the 
fevered brains of men, and led them to survey the way over which the 
Church and nation have come in reaching the glorious present. This 
recurrence to the past has just been made manifest on Long Island, at 
the ancient but beautiful town of Hempstead, which rejoices in a live- 
ly Church, two hundred and fifty years old. Youth has here so con- 
cealed age that one would suppose that this Church had not been born 
more than twenty-five years ago. The old mother is not tottering, 
neither are her garments tattered with age. Her children have clothed 
her as children do their beloved parents, until through the genius of 
youth, old age is made never to appear. A contest goes on between 
three or four Churches on this island and this vicinity, as to which is 
oldest. Hempstead claims the sharply-contested honor, and as it de- 
serves all kinds of honor, and nobody has yet proved that its claim is 
not well fortified, we join in the congratulations, and hail her as the 
oldest and least decrepit of them all. 

Long Island lies flat, but is changeful in its sunshine, its vistas of 
grain and fruit, its culture and products of life in every form. Nature 
was in a broad smile by day. and by night shimmered in the rays of a 
glorious moon. The remnants of the old congregation were there, the 
survival of the fittest, which is the law in church life as well as of 
physical development. The memorial services were begun by the his- 
toric address of the gifted and earnest young pastor, the Rev. Frank 
Melville Kerr, an attractive and popular minister, a living bud on the 
ancient stock — there not by birth, but by adoption. He led lis back to 
where history had the delightsomeness of a very pleasant song, and 
made seem present to us the heroes whose names and fame have come 
down from other generations. 

Puritanism must not be limited to very few, as has been wont. 
They were not only dissenting Independents from England, but Pres- 
byterians from Scotland, Holland, Ireland and England as well, who 
made history for themselves on both sides of the sea. One of this host 
must " sample the lot" — Richard Denton: bora in Yorkshire. England, 
in 1586, and educated at Cambridge. He held a pastorate of several 
years in Coley Chapel, Halifax, Yorkshire, England. 

The outcome of royaltj' and hypocrisy allied in England was a Book 
of Sports, which was a collection of abominations in the name of the L< >rd. 
forced upon the Puritans as an instrument of torture to their consciences. 
It required them to desecrate the Sabbath by practices not worthy of 
the race-track, and nothing was left but either to yield in dishonor or to 
rebel at the risk of martyrdom. 

Of these men, fully a thousand reached this country. Among the 
number was this old worthy, Richard Denton, who labored first at Wa- 
tertown, Mass., but who, on account of persecution, in 1635 moved to 
Connecticut and founded and named the famous old town of Weath- 
ersfield, the place where not only the best men and women of their 
times lived, but where the town itself was made odorous with the best 
onions of this era of the nation's life. He had a desire to depart from 
them, however, for what reason is not stated, unless it was his longing 
to found a Presbyterian Church, which he did, and which now claims 
to be the first Presbyterian Church in America. To this all loval de- 



—50— 

scendants were invited, to celebrate the two centuries and a half of 
their existence as a church, and the prospect of two hundred and fifty 
years more. They met last week in Christ's Presbyterian Church, of 
Hempstead. 

There was present at the celebration a large intelligent congrega- 
tion. Some of the line of the Denton's were present, one is an officer in 
tin' church. This church has the New England look with much that 
identifies it with Presbyterianism. It has a grand history which ought 
to be maintained. We regret that only a few hours' presence shut us 
off from many of the personalities of the history of special interest. 
Many of the friends of the church in the Presbytery were there and oth- 
ers came officially to represent other Presbyteries. The first congratu- 
lations heard were from Dr. Carter, of Huntington, with historic rem- 
iniscences of other churches of the Island, interesting as a novel, and 
made more so by a most admirable presentation thereof. Rev. Charles 
Dunn, of Albany, a former pastor, gave a most interesting address full 
of incident and humor. Following him came the Rev. J. A. Davis, of 
Nyack, N. Y., who was pastor from 1890 to L893. 

The evening session was one of great interest. The house was filled, 
floor and gallery, by a congregation of the members of this church and 
their neighbors. The music was good and appropriate. The church is 
worthy of the historic place and people. The audience-room will hold 

seven or eight hundred people. In all its appointments it is g band 

conforms to modern taste. It is bound to all the past by a historic 
graveyard where lies the dust of notable men and women who have dis- 
appeared in periods varying from centuries down to weeks. Godly 
men and women many of them were, whose best history is that they 
pleased God. 

The night session was opened by the introduction by the young 
pastor, of a young Methodist minister, showing that the Presbyterian 
Church has always been in accord with its neighbors and co-workers. 
The first speaker was Dr. Wells, of Brooklyn, one of the niosf faithful 
pastors the church has ever possessed: a man to be held in the highesi 
esteem, because the ministry of Christ was always big enough for his 
expanding ability. He has held men by preaching Christ and his Gos- 
pel. His address was historic, but more inspiring in the manifestation 
of Divine power and its living results. He has marly a fifty y; ars' min- 
istry behind him. but has lost none of his spiritual and mental vigor, 
and is still marching on. 

The last speaker was Dr. Hall, always interesting, because always 
good. He turns everything, by a skillful metamorphosis, into food for 
spiritual life. He has on such occasions sufficient of humor to attract, 
from which he darts into spiritual life and its ethics, but we need not 
take time to talk of Dr. Hall — he is known. Space and time will not 
permit us to say more than that this was one of the most agreeable meet- 
ings of a life-time. The pastor, who is a man of ability in his minis- 
terial work, has received his ministerial qualifications not only by study 
and by the power of God resting upon him, but by heredity. He has 
descended through eight generations of Presbyterian stock, and an al- 
most continuous ministerial line. He is all this, and a man of affairs 
besides. He and bis people had made every provision for the comfort 
and entertainment of their guests. .U'b r the afternoon service then- 
was served a most bountiful collation. We know that we have missed 



-51- 

many who contributed to this grand anniversary. There were present 
Moderators of other Presbyteries. Sunday School Superintendents and 
men of distinction in all the walks of life." 

In introducing the Rev. John Hall, D. I)., LL. D. , of New 
York, the pastor referred to the fact of having heard Dr. Hall 
deliver an interesting address before the Jubilee Assembly of 
the Irish Presbyterian Church in Belfast in 1890, and the com- 
ment of one of the delegates, who said : "We never hear the 
like of that in this country."' As the Doctor was born under 
the British flag and now occupies a high position in the Pres- 
byterian Church of his adopted country, the audience, at the 
request of the pastor, gave him the Chautauqua salute. 

Summary of the Address by Rev. Dr. Hall. 

The Rev. Dr. Hall, according to his usual method, spoke in a con- 
versational way to the people, and expressed the pleasure he felt in 
being with a congregation with a history so venerable. As they had 
already had this matter fully before them he did not feel bound to 
dwell upon it. but desired to speak on a topic which this memorial ser- 
vice suggests, namely: The Church of Clod the Great Reforming Agency 
in the World. He called attention to the familiar passage in I. John, 
3d Chapter, where the first verse defines the position of a believer — a 
son of God; the second, the future of a believer, perfect in likeness to 
the Redeemer, and then the third brings out the moral effect on him 
who lias this hope; he "purifieth himself*' as the Master is pure. This 
is the divine method of lifting men out of sin and degradation, and this 
is the method which is employed with such happy results by true evan- 
gelical churches. 

He then proceeded to show how ■■societies" of human formation, 
however well meant, and dealing with sections of vice, for their re- 
moval, or of virtue, for their cultivation, differ from the divine plan 
which goes to the centre of human life, touches and changes the human 
heart, and brings it under the influence < >f grace — grace which ' ' teacheth 
to deny ungodliness and all worldly lusts, and to live" " soberly, right- 
eously and Godly" in the world. The effectiveness of this divine force 
in making men moral the speaker illustrated, not without a cer- 
tain genial humor, by facts drawn from his own observation and experi- 
ence, as when chaplain to a female convict prison in Dublin, having 
the Presbyterians in his charge, and where he could only get fifteen or 
twenty hearers, where if he had had his proportion of the population 



—52- 

he ought to have had seventy or eighty— the only place, said the Doctor, 
with a smile, where I felt thankfulness over a small congregation. 

Some indeed, he pointed out. object to the evangelical way of em- 
phasizing doctrine, or as they sometimes call it " dogma" -not knowing 
very well the meaning of that word — and tell us that they want ethical 
teaching. "Duty and not dogma" is what the people need to be 
taught, they say. He made an appeal to the good sense of the young 
who had to learn to do sums in arithmetic and so to get into their 
memory the multiplication table, to learn to write letters, and so to 
go through the dictionary and to write correct English and so had to 
learn the grammar. On the same principle the churches have to teach 
what we are to believe concerning God and what duties God requires 
of us. that we may do them. Referring to the charge that religion is 
thus mainly negative, he alluded to the large proportion of the com- 
mandments beginning with " thou shalt not," but pointed out that the 
Bible inculcates all positive duties, supplies the motives for doing them, 
and provides an ideal, an example in " the man Christ Jesus," like to 
which there is nothing in any humanly -devised religion. In this con- 
nection he quoted the comment of an Irish Bishop on such a critic, who 
he supposed, listened to the reading of the Ten Commandments in 
Church, and then went to sleep, and did not hear the Gospel and 
Epistles. 

The speaker brought his address to a close by an earnest appeal to 
the members of the congregation, and to friends who were there in 
sympathy with the minister and the stated worshipers, to receive the 
Divine Redeemer; if they had not done so. and if they had to labor- 
by consistency of life, by prayer, by sympathy with the pastor to hand 
down to the corning generations the privileges they had inherited from 
their fathers; and that they might be able to do this he counseled them 
to be faithful, loving, grateful imitators of the Redeemer in His life on 
earth — that Redeemer whom God had set up as King in Zion. 

The congregation then sang, "Hail to the Brightness of 
Zion's Glad Morning," and received the benediction from Dr. 
Hall, which successfully closed the second day of the celebra- 
tion. 



TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1894 



The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor contrib- 
uted to the success of the celebration by procuring excellent 
speakers, who have seen the beneficial part of such an organi- 
zation among the young people of the Church and who know 
how to impress the minds of the young with the privileges of 
christian activity. 

Invitations were sent to neighboring societies, and many 
were represented in the audience. 

'['he President of the Society, Mr. J. E. Patterson, presided 
ami conducted the devotional exercises. After singing "Hide 
me, my Saviour, hide me," one of the favorite hymns, the 
President introduced the Rev. Charles Park, pastor of the Pres- 
byterian Church of Astoria, Long Island, who spoke, in part, 
as follows : 

Address by the Rev. Charles Park. 

To whom much is given much will he required is true of centuries 
as it is of character. Standing on the crest of a new era, as we do to- 
day, we face a double duty : Congratulation and consecration ; joyful 
thanksgiving for what has been : buoyant faith in what shall be. It is 
easier to believe in a past God than in a Jehovah of the present and 
future. 

Deity is trinitarian temporally as well as theologically. Godhood 

covers all three tenses, but the future is the favorite and must ever be 

the best. The superlative is a divine degree. Our Heavenly Father is 

a splendid optimist, and the Laureate is right in singing: 

" Yet I doubt not through the ages 
An increasing purpose runs." 

Therefore, men and women, forward is the word. Make the his- 
toric past of this church energizing in its effect upon your spiritual life. 

If the Corsican could draw a lesson of enthusiastic courage from 
cold pyramids, can you not gain from the lesson of these centuries- 
centuries not of stones, but of souls — God's message'.-' "Come up 
higher" — not to heaven, but to heavenly life: not by dying, but by 
doing. 



—54— 

The starry providence of God for more than two hundred years 

beckons yon to make your christian life whiter and wider, to let the 

spirit of Christ dwell in yon richly. " to draw nigh unto God and He 

will draw nigh unto yon." May we not change a stanza from the 

Quaker poet, adapting it from a patriotic to a parochial use. and pray 

the Father? 

"To make this church, through centuries long, 
In peace secure, in power strong; 
Around thy gift of mercy draw 
The safeguards "f thy righteous law; 
And. cast in some diviner mold, 
Let the new cycle shame the old!" 

The Rev. B. B. Tyler, D. D., of the Church of the Disci- 
ples, New York, delivered an eloquent address upon the Chris- 
tian Endeavor Pledge. He paid a glowing tribute to the 
founders of this church, but thought that the present genera- 
tion of christians is in a better condition for religious work 
than any of previous days. In this equipment, which is so 
wonderful and practical, the Christian Endeavor Society has 
an important place. The pledge, which forms a centre of ac- 
tivity, is remarkable in the extent of its gospel principles and 
the simplicity in which it presents practical Christianity. 

He said that the pledge contains eight sermons, which sum 
up the meaning of this great movement among the young 
people. We give the sermons in their order : i. Trusting 
Christ ; 2. Pleasing Christ ; 3. Daily Prayer ; 4. Daily Bible 
Reading : 5. Supporting Christ : 6. Active Participation in 
the Work of the Church ; 7. Living a Christian Life ; 8. En- 
tire Consecration to Christ. 

His address was shortened because it was necessary for 
him to leave for the city in a few minutes ; but it was full of 
Christian Endeavor loyalty and enthusiasm. The society was 
fortunate in securing his services. 

The Rev. David fames Burrell, D. I)., of New York, was 
next introduced and spoke in part as given by the Inquirer: 

Representing, he said, the oldest evangelical church in the United 
States, the Collegiate Church of New York, he brought salutations 
from the Holland Presbyterian Church in the United States. The 
Hempstead Church, he said, ought to he proud of its history. He was 



-55— 

glad the Christian Endeavor had come in his time and he was a member 
of it. He loved it and thought it meant great things for the future of 
the Church. It is yet in its incipiency. It means work for the young. 
It means more than endeavor — it means trained endeavor. Young men 
and women are being trained to the work of the Church. Apprentices 
in the past have been trained in every department of life except the 
Church. Now that the Church is receiving the benefit of this training 
it will never be what it has been. It will be stronger and more aggres- 
sive as the young people begin to make their training felt. A great 
many people now know that the Hempstead Church is two hundred 
and fifty years old. It is a grand record, and the people will expect it 
to live up to its history. 

The afternoon exercises closed with a consecration service, 
led by the Rev. W. J. Peck, of Corona. He opened the service 
with an address on "Christian Endeavor and Consecration," 
as follows: 

Address by the Rev. W. J. Peck. 

It is my joy to bring to-day to this venerable and oldest Presbyterian 
Church the greetings and congratulations of the Union Evangelical 
Church of Corona, which has in its fold the representatives of twenty 
denominations, twelve nationalities and three continents. 

It is a beautiful thing to have a part in this celebration and be 
thrilled and moved by the consecrated memories of two hundred and 
fifty years of service for Jesus. 

Consecrated Christian Endeavor began among the Congregational- 
ists, my ancestors, in 1620, about Plymouth Rock, Mass. In 1628. when 
the first endeavor was a fair maiden of eighteen, the Dutch commenced 
christian endeavor on Manhattan Island and built their first meeting- 
house. In 1644 Presbyterianism in America was cradled in this fair 
village, and this church which we honor to-day was the product of con- 
secrated endeavor of that denomination. So that early light shone out 
christian light from Plymouth, Manhattan Island and Long Island, 
and thus an early triangle of endeavor was completed. And from these 
three centres light still shines, and the lineal descendants of those peo- 
ple are with us to-day and the pastors of those original churches have 
been upon this platform to-day. 

After two hundred and fifty years we see the value of that early 
consecration, and what it really meant, and what it still means. The 
consecration of their gold transmuted it into the coins and currency of 
Heaven. 



—56— 

It cost these early residents of Long Island a good deal to maintain 
services here: but they did not give their gold for iron. That invest- 
ment paid. The rest of their money was lost or is forgotten, lmt this, 
given to Jesus, was transmuted into enduring riches. 

I hold in my hand a coin. It is a dollar, supposed to represent one 
hundred cents. Think of the history of that dollar. It came clear and 
beautiful from the mint : it went into the palm of a laboring man to 
pay him for ten hours* work. It was still beautiful. He had earned it 
by the sweat of his brow. It was a good dollar. But it went into the 
till of a certain grocer. He spent it at the race-track, and there the 
dollar was disgraced. It rolled into the coffers of a saloon and bought 
woe and wretchedness and sin and shame. It became a bad dollar. It 
was stained now. It was covered with filth. Trace its sad history. It 
cannot be told here. But that dollar has a history of crime, woe and 
pollution. How can it be redeemed? Give it to Jesus. Consecration 
will transmute that coin and turn it into the currency of Heaven. And 
the gold of that land is good. Consecration means the giving of our 
wealth to Jesus — as the woman with the box of nard broke it over the 
Saviour. She gave the best she had. The aroma was not wasted. 

Consecration means the transmuting of character and the making 
of them something beautiful and enduring. 

Go into this graveyard and look at those stones. Some of them are 
so moss-covered that you cannot well read them : but they all stand for 
consecrated character. Others are forgotten, but these are remembered 
to-day. They gave their lives to Jesus and He beautified them, and they 
will be His when He makes up His jewels. 

A consecrated character becomes like Christ — gentle, honest, true, 
sweet, lovely. Let this mind be in you also that was in Christ Jesus. 

Our very circumstances are changed by consecrating them to 
Jesus. We may give to Him the bright day and the dark midnight. 
The pleasant and the imaginable circumstances of our lives should be 
given to Him. The contrary things of life, the domestic friction, the 
blue Monday, the scowl, the criticism, the hate, may all be given to 
Him. and He will change it all and make even the contrariness of life 
a blessing. Even the contrary winds may be used for our greatest vic- 
tories. 

I came down here on a bicycle. I was in a hurry, and so rode the 
wheel. If I had had plenty of time I could have come on the Long 
Island Railroad. Part of the way was easy wheeling. When I came 
down the Jamaica turnpike it was like sliding down hill. But part of 
the way it was hill-climbing, and the wind was against me and the 
sand was deep, and it was like pushing a truck: and when I readied 



-57- 

the top of the hill, against the wind and in spite of the sand. I felt that 
it was an achievement, and I thought that the very contrariness of life 
brings out manhood. 

By consecration, oh christians, it is possible to make even the 
worldliness of this world help us on to God and Heaven. It is so. A 
sea captain says that he can use a head wind to reach home by. He 
can use a wind that comes from the westward to drive his boat west- 
ward by tacking and turning. We may so use the world and its con- 
trariness that when we come to cast our crown at Jesus' feet we can say 
that the worldliness of the world and its temptations consecrated to 
Him have helped its on to sainthood. 

We should consecrate to Jesus the consequences of consecration. 
Give all to Him — life, talents, love — and He will confer the results. 
Many are afraid of what will happen. When a boy of fourteen I 
wanted to give my soul to Jesus, but I was afraid of the consequences. 
I was afraid He would want me to be a missionary or a minister. I 
wanted to make a half-hearted gift. He would not accept it. For 
weeks I carried about a heavy burden, 'till finally I told Him if He 
would give me peace I would be His and He could do as He liked with 
me — anything. And He did. He asked me to i>reach to the last the 
gospel. I cannot tell you the joy I have had. If I had one hundred 
lives I would want them all to be spent in the ministry. If I could live 
999 years I would want to spend them all in preaching the gospel. The 
consequences of consecration Christ will care for. Give all to Him. 
and it will all come out right. 

At home is a little boy. We call him Hodo. The other day he 
tried to take his first steps. He was by his mother's knee. He wanted 
to come to me. I held out my arms for him. His eye kindled. He 
took a few steps. The way was long to him, but he looked into my eye 
—a look of love and consecration — and the little swaying feet did the 
rest, and he came bounding into my arms — bounding side to side, as a 
ferryboat entering the slip. Do you think I would have let him fall ? 
I would have sprung to him if his feet had tottered. 

So God asks us to commit our way to Him in consecration full and 
free. Rather than let us fall, He would reach down his arms from high 
Heaven all the way. He would let the universe fall rather than harm 
or lose one of his own. 

We may well consecrate the results of consecration to Christ. 

May the memory of all these years and lives make this hour of 
consecration very sweet and earnest. 



:,s 



After the impressive consecration service, conducted by 
the Rev. W. J. Peck, of Corona, Long- Island, the congregation 
sang the closing hymn " God be with you till we meet again," 
and the meeting closed with the Mizpah benediction. 



THE SABBATH SCHOOL CELEBRATION. 

The Sabbath School celebration was held Tuesday evening. 
When the closing exercises of the anniversary commenced 
promptly at 7.30 o'clock, the church was crowded to the doors 
and many persons were standing in the aisles. On the plat- 
form were Rev. C. E. Dunn, of Albany; Rev. W. J. Peck, of 
Corona; Dr. Louis Klopsch, of New York; Rev. A. H. Mc- 
Kinney, of New York; Rev. F. M. Kerr, .Mr. |. K. Davidson, 
Dr. C. H. Ludlum, of Hempstead, and Mr. Percy B. Bromheld, 
the Superintendent of the Sunday School, who presided. The 
exercises opening with an organ voluntary by Miss Yiola 
Bedell, after which the congregation all joined heartily in sing- 
ing " Onward Christian Soldiers. " Rev. W. |. Peck then read 
the sixty-second chapter of Isaiah and Rev. C. E. Dunn offered 
prayer. The school sang a beautiful carol, entitled "Sing 
Unto Jesus on this happy children's day," after which Mr. 
Percy B. Bromfield, Superintendent, delivered the following 
historical address on the Sunday School : 

Historical Address by Hr. Percy B. Bromfield. 

We usually speak of the Sunday School as the child of the church, 
hut as we are celebrating this evening the two hundred and fiftieth an- 
niversary of the parent, our Sunday School must necessarily he the 
great grand-child of this church, as we celebrate only her fifty-first 
birthday at this time, this Sunday School having been established in 1 s |:;. 

Perhaps some may think it strange that while the Sunday School 
was first born as far back as 1781, that so many years elapsed hefore 
this historic church adopted the new idea: but the fact is that when 
Robert Raikes established his Sabbath School in Gloucester, England, 
he little thought of the great institution of which he was destined to be 
the father, for his object was mainly to keep the children off the streets, 
and at the same time to teach them some of the elementary studies 




MR. l'KKCY B. BKOMKIKI.n. 



-59- 

which are now taught in our common schools. Fur this purpose he en- 
gaged paid teachers, the session being from 9 till 12 o'clock in the 
morning, and again from 1 till 5 o'clock in the afternoon, when they 
were sent home, being duly cautioned not to be unruly on the streets. 
The first quarter of a century was therefore a formative period for the 
Sunday School, and it was not until early in the 19th century that the 
Sabbath Schools became an adjunct of the church, when some churches 
in Pennsylvania adopted the idea and established the present institu- 
tion in this country. 

It was not. however, until the year of 1843, that some good ladies of 
Hempstead concluded to start the Sabbath School connected with this 
church, and according to the recollects >n of Mrs. Mary Ann Gildersleeve, 
it was largely through the efforts of Mrs. Sylvester Woodbridge, that 
the work was undertaken and the late Dr. John Davidson was appoint- 
ed the first Superintendent. After serving some years he was succeeded 
by Mr. Eldert Piatt and in the year 1854 Mr. James Myers, who is still 
living at New Rochelle, N. Y.. became the Superintendent. During 
these years they had held the sessions of the school for three years in 
the old church (now the parsonage) and the balance of the time in the 
gallery of the present church building ; but in 1856, under the Superin- 
tendent-}- of Mr. Daniel Sealey, the present Sunday School room was 
built and furnished with old high back pews and a sort of a pulpit. 

Little is known of the history of the school except as it is recalled 
by the men and women who in those days made up the children in at- 
tendance. We learn, however, that the following gentlemen have 
served the school as Superintendents in turn as named : Mr. Bloomfield, 
Mr. Merwin Rushmore, Mr. Elvan Weekes, Mr. Samuel M. Pine, Mr. 
J. Edward Davidson. Dr. Charles H. Ludlum and the present incum- 
bent. Mr. Percy B. Bromfield. Of these Mr. J. E. Davidson served ten 
years and Dr. C. H. Ludlum fourteen years. 

Under the Superintendency of Mr. Davidson alterations were made 
in the Sunday School room, the old pews were taken out and replaced 
by comfortable chairs, the platform was changed to the side of the 
room, and a primary department accommodating sixty scholars, was 
erected at the end of the building, greatly beautifying and enlarging 
the room. 

It is with pride and encouragement that we refer to the fact that 
we have, as officers and members of the school at present, some faithful 
workers, who were scholars when the chapel was built, and even before 
that time, Mr. Thomas F. Gilbert, the present Librarian, having been 
connected with the school since 1S47. (forty -seven years), and Mr. J. 
Seymour Snedeker. the present Secretary, having held that position 



-60- 

consecutively for twenty-seven years, and having been a member since 
1850, (forty-three years), and for over twenty-five years he has not been 
absent a single Sunday. Mrs. Emma Harold, the Superintendent of 
the primary department. Miss Jnlia H. Thompson, and MissM. A. Kel- 
lnm. teachers in the main school, have all been regular attendants for 
many years, and there are many others long connected with the school 
and who have given years of faithful service, whom I should like to 
mention at this time, but will not do so for fear of omitting some. 

There are many also who have served in the school, either as offi- 
cer, teacher or scholar, who have been called home to their reward. 
Conspicuous among these I would mention Assistant Superintendent 
Richard Losea and Assistant Superintendent Albert F. Cornelius, 
whose faithful services will ever remain as fitting monuments to their 
memory. 

It is difficult to say what the attendance was in the early days, but 
for many years the average attendance was about one hundred and fifty: 
during the past few years, however, the attendance has steadily increased, 
and at present the Sunday School room is entirely too small, being un- 
comfortably crowded every Sunday, and makingit necessary to immedi- 
ately take steps towards the erection of a new building, and for which we 
have already started a fund. As we have so fittingly celebrated this im- 
portant event in our church history, may we soon erect a substantial 
monument in brick and stone, in the shape of a new Sunday School room, 
that will stand years after our humble services are forgotten, and we, 
with the grand old warriors of the early days of this church, have gone 
to our reward ! 

The following letters were read from friends of the school 
who were invited, but who were unable to be present: 

Brooklyn. N. Y.. Oct. 16. 1894. 
Mr. P. B. Bromfleld. 

Dear Sib: I am suffering this morning from a severe cold and fear 
I shall not be able to go to Hempstead to-night. I am sorry, but must 
submit. I suppose. Yours truly. 

M. Rushmore. 



Philadelphia. Sept. 25. 1*1)4. 
Mr. I'. />. Bromfleld, Hempstead, Long Island. 

My Dear Friend: I have delayed answering your esteemed invita- 
tion, hoping that I might be able to accept the honor conferred on me. 
But I am filled with regret that my official duties will take me west at 
that date on a tour of the Synods. 1 pray God to bless your celebration 
of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Hempstead church. 
With sincere personal regards, Sours always. 

.1 LMES A. WORDEN. 



-61- 

Philadelphia. Oct. 3d, 1894. 
Mr. P. B. Bromfield, Hempstead, L. I. 

Dear Sir: I am very pleased to have your kind invitation to the 
great anniversary, but I am engaged for the days mentioned, and at 
such a distance from Hempstead, that it would not be possible for me 
to take part in the services. 

Very truly yours. 

John Waxamaker. 

New York. Oct. 10, isi)4. 
My Dear Mr. Bromfield: 

I am exceedingly sorry not to be at your anniversary, but I send 
you these few lines in greeting to assure you that if not there in bodily 
presence, I am there in spirit. More than two centuries of church life 
in this country form a remarkable experience, and one which calls for 
great gratitude to Almighty Ood. Since the founding of your church, 
methods have changed to meet changed circumstances, though the 
power upon which the work must depend, remains ever the same. It 
is Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day and forever. With His power 
no church can fail. Without it none succeed. 

Accept my heartiest wishes for your future prosperity and for such 
administration of church life as shall make the days more fruitful than 
those past. 

Yours very truly. 

A. F. SlHAFFFLER. 



Summary of Addresses by Dr. C. H. Ludlum and Mr. J. E. Davidson. 

Mr. J. Edward Davidson, who was Superintendent for a period of 
ten years, being introduced by the presiding officer, spoke in a happy 
manner about the great contrast Sunday School work of the present 
day presents to methods of earlier days, when he was a hoy. His ad- 
dress abounded in amusing reminiscences of his early Sunday School 
life, when few extras were indulged in on the part of the teachers for 
the benefit of the scholars. At present Christmas time is a season of 
great rejoicing in the school because of the many beautiful and valua- 
ble gifts which are given to teachers and scholars. He well remem- 
bered how Elder Piatt, at the holiday season, distributed New Year's 
cakes to the scholars, and tracts in abundance on •' foreordination" and 
••predestination." Ashe had given ten years of hard work for the 
benefit of the school, he could never lose interest in this important work 
among the children and youth of the church and hoped that great bless- 
ings would come to all engaged in such christian purpose and effort. 

Dr. Charles H. Ludlum. who was Superintendent for a period of 
fourteen years, being introduced, spoke of the Sunday School as having 
its origin in the needs of the little ones. Some children might have the 
good fortune of religious instruction at home: but many are not favored 



—62— 

in this manner and must have a special organization to look after their 
interests in the religious life. 

The Sunday School is this organization. It meets to study the Bihle 
and to impress the minds of the children with the fact that the scrip- 
tures are the revelation of God to the people of this world and show 
Loth young and old how they she mid live so as to attain noble charac- 
ters and at last gain an entrance to Heaven. 

Childhood is the period of impressions. Teaching and training in the 
early days have a lasting effect upon the child. There is no need of 
starting bad influences. They come naturally; but it requires work to 
place the right principles and lessons in the young hearts. While this 
good teaching contends with many obstacles in the ordinary course of 
events, yet it is worth the effort, prayer and patience of Sunday School 
workers. To save a child's life is worth much to the coming genera- 
tion. The Doctor's best wish was that th< Sunday School of this church 
might accomplish this noble work. 

Miss Lina Van De Water sang a solo entitled " < >ne Sweetly 
Solemn Thought," and Dr. Louis Klopsch, proprietor of The 
Christian Herald, and Superintendent of Dr. Talmage's Sunday- 
School, Brooklyn, being introduced, spoke as follows : 

Address by Dr. Louis Klopsch. 

During the last three days this tirne-honored pioneer society has no 
doubt indulged in a wholesale retrospection, and re-lived over again and 
again the glorious scenes of its illustrious past, and I beg to be per- 
mitted to add my cordial congratulation, to those of others, on this 
mosl felicitous occasion, and were I this evening to address you as a 
church. I should endeavor to contribute one tiny twig, at least, to the 
launl wreath which other and more eloquent speakers have already 
entwined and placed upon the venerable brow of this faithful mother 
in Israel. May God richly bless her, and make her more and more a 
blessing to others. 

But I am to address my remarks to the Sal bath School, and on 
matters pertaining to that special phase of christian work. Now, 1 am 
an enthusiast on the subject of Sunday Schools, and. when the heart is 
full, the mouth is apt to overflow, but I will endeavor not to tire you. 
and will spend the few moments allotted to meon this two hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of this church, in indicating why, leaving the things 
of the past behind it. this Sunday School and all Sunday Schools should 
press forward to the mark of their high calling which is in Christ 
Jesus their Lord. 



—63— 

The ancient Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians committed the 
record of their religions to marble and granite, and by means of these 
inscriptions hoped to carry down through all generations a knowledge 
of their faith. But old Father Time comes along, and with his all- 
destrpying hand crumbles the marble and granite; and effaces from 
them, beyond all recognition, the marks that were placed upon them; 
a fact which finds pertinent illustration in the tomb-stones in your own 
church-yard. Others have tried to hand down to posterity in the shape 
of parchments, religions beliefs, and other knowledge, but time causes 
the paper to moulder and the ink to fade, and in the course of a few 
generations that which seemed destined to endure forever has become 
a thing of the past. Therefore, to-day we have hardly any authentic 
facts concerning the religions of the ancient people who pinned their 
faith to marble and to granite, and the oldest manuscript does not date 
back as far as the beginning of the christian era. 

But in India the followers of Brahma and the teachers of the 
Buddhist faith inscribe the words of their religion on the hearts and 
the minds of their children and their children's children, and thus in- 
delibly engraven, these words are handed down from age to age and 
from generation to generation, so that to-day, at a most remote period 
from the original foundation of these religions, we can with almost un- 
failing accuracy learn from the lips of main* of their disciples every- 
thing necessary and essential to the propagation of their faith. 

What these Buddhists and Brahmans are doing in their schools of 
theology, and what the Jewish patriarch is doing in his own home in 
obedience to the divine will, emphasized again and again in the Old 
Testament, that our Sunday Schools are doing Sunday after Sunday, 
and our children are becoming grounded and rooted in the sacred word, 
and through them and the continued effor.ts of the Sunday School in 
that direction, the religion of our Lord Jesus will be carried down 
throughout all time and even into eternity. Only that which is in- 
scribed on the human heart of flesh and the human mind can endure ! 

Sunday Schools gather in the children at an age when they are most 
susceptible to influence, good or evil, and they win them over gradually 
but surely for the Master's service, and thus consecrate whole lives to 
Him. We attach, unfortunately, too little importance to work among 
the little children : but it is surely the most important of all christian 
woi*k. When an old man of sixty, or seventy, or eighty, kneels at the 
altar and decides to give the balance of his unprofitable life to the ser- 
vice of the Master, the congregation is apt to go wild in its ecstacy over 
the occasion, while if half a dozen children were converted at that 
same altar, they would consider the latter as of little or no account. 



-64— 

Now old Mr. Jones may only have a year or two to live. After he has 
lived for fifty, sixty or seventy years, and spent his substance in riotous 
living and wasted his energies, his physical strength, his mental acquisi- 
tions, his money, and nearly all of everything he ever had worth having, 
and comes with a miserable remnant and lays it down upon the altar, 
we go wild over it: while those little children who, in all probability, 
have each consecrated sixty or seventy years of continuous future ser- 
vice for the Lord, are passed by as insignificant, and yet if each were 
to do but one good act a day, three hundred and sixty-five good acts a 
year, in the course of that seventy years it would have over twenty-five 
thousand good acts to its credit — a Vanderbilt in Heaven. Better one 
such life, with its continuous and prolonged ministrations, than a dozen 
of fag end, job lots, and comparatively worthless remnants, represent- 
ing simply that which cannot any more be enjoyed by the giver. 

In my humble opinion, the great problem which confronts this na- 
tion to-day. of assimilating and amalgamating the vast foreign element 
which continually crowds our shores, and which at the present time has 
become one of the foremost problems, is now being solved and will 
continue to be solved by the Sunday School. There is the Jew, the 
Polish Jew, the Russian Jew, the German Jew. We look upon them 
somewhat with contempt, but we should bear in mind that each one of 
these Jews has in him the blood of Moses, of Abraham, of David and of 
our own dear Lord. These Jews of royal lineage and of purple blood 
may stubbornly and obstinately refuse to come to our places of wor- 
ship, but their little children are drawn in and are being educated and 
trained up in our glorious religion, and they go home and ask difficult 
questions, and sing sweet hymns, and say strange things, and that 
bigoted father and mother become more and more tolerant until at last 
the orthodox Jew becomes liberal and the liberal Jew becomes chris- 
tianized. Then there are the Italians. We frequently look upon them 
as cattle, and yet in their veins flows the blood of a Christopher Colum- 
bus, and of a Garibaldi, and of a Galileo. There are other nationali- 
ties : the Chinese and the Hungarians, with the blood of Louis Kossuth 
coursing through their veins, every one of them possessed of an immor- 
tal soul. All these will be brought in through the influence of Sunday 
School work, lovingly, diligently and conscientiously performed as in 
the sight of God. 

Then there are two million men and women engaged in Sunday School 
teaching, who because of this duty, are, in the Master's name, poring 
over His blessed word, and are familiarizing themselves and acquaint- 
ing themselves with His will concerning us. Two million men and 
women who. but for this special incentive, would content themselves 



—65— 

with reading mechanically a brief chapter morning and evening and 
delude themselves that they were studying G-od's word. How much 
good these two million people are doing to their own souls and the souls 
of others, and the influence they are exerting, eternity alone shall reveal. 

Then as the membership of the church dies off, it is replenished from 
the Sunday Schools. In my own school if I want a teacher, I go to the 
bible classes, wherein are the young men and young women who from 
childhood's days have gradually grown up and developed, and from 
them I make my selections. So the church amplifies its numbers, 
fills its vacancies, draws from its helpers and supporters on the Sunday 
School, and a scriptually intelligent, discriminating membership is the 
result. And I believe that in the near future many of the sermons 
which to-day are attentively listened to because they are so dull and 
heavy that no one can understand them, will not be tolerated when ad- 
dressed to a generation of people who have been trained in the admoni- 
tion and the fear of the Lord, and in the knowledge of His word under 
the present Sunday School system. 

May this grand Sunday School, under the leadership of your able 
Superintendent, my friend, Mr. Bromfield. and the Sunday Schools of 
this country and of all countries make such advances and such strides 
in the direction of the right, that this church will never again see an- 
other two hundred and fifty years of service, biit that long before that 
time the millennium may dawn and the church militant be transformed 
into the church triumphant. 

At the close of Dr. Klopsch's interesting- address the pre- 
siding- officer announced the patriotic hymn, 

" My country, 'tis of thee, 
Sweet land of liberty, 

Of thee I sing ; 
Land where my fathers died, 
Land of the Pilgrim's pride, 
From ev'ry mountain side, 

Let freedom ring," 

which the congregation sang in an enthusiastic manner. The 
benediction was then pronounced by the pastor, and the cele- 
bration, which had been such a success in every way, was 
closed in a fitting manner. 



Appendix. 



PRESBYTERIAN SUNDAY SCHOOL. 



OFFICERS. 



Percy B. Bromfield, 
J. Seymour Snedeker. 
Walter D. Ludlum, 
Thomas F. Gilbert. 
Daniel E. Sealey. 
William H. Campbell. 
Mrs. J. K. Boyd, 
(ii \i;i.ks A. Eyeritt. 
Miss Viola S. Bedell. 
J. H. Roberts. 
Miss Mamie E. Sealey. 



Superintendent. 

last. Superintendent. 

Secretary. 

Libra rid ii . 

Asst. Librarians. 
Female Asst. Supt. 

Treasurer. 

Organist. 

Precentor. 

Asst. Organist. 



OFFICERS OF MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 



Dr. C. H. Ludlum, 
J. E. Patterson. 
J. P. H. de Windt. 



Preside til . 

Vice-President. 

Secretary and Treasurer. 



TEACHERS. 



Miss Teresa E. Allison. 
Miss Edna Allison. 
Miss Emma E. Bennett. 
Miss Ida Cooper, 
Mrs. L . H. Clowes. 
Mrs. M. Augusta pollins, 
E. P. Gardner, 
Mr. Edmund S. Hyde. 
Mrs. Emma F. Harold. 
Miss Josie Heald. 
Miss Emma C. Jerome 
Miss Maria A. Kellum, 
Mrs. W. Z. Ketchain, 
Dr. Charles H. Ludlum, 
Mr. Clinton W. Ludlum. 
Miss Florence Minshull. 

Miss 



Mrs. F. W. Miller. 
Miss Minnie Noon. 
Mrs. M. D. Nichols. 
Mrs. (t. W. Pavntar. 
Mrs. S. H. Powell. 
Mr. J. E. Patterson. 
Miss Josie Place. 
Mr. J. H. Roberts. 
Miss Alletta Ryder. 
Mr. William Schilling, 
Mrs. Martha Sealey. 
Miss Edna R. Seaman. 
Miss Julia Stoft'el. 
Miss Mamie E. Sealey. 
Miss Julia H. Thompson. 
Miss Bessie H. Thompson, 



Sophie Werner. 



—67— 

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS. 

Miss L. A. Bedell. Mrs. A. Hendrickson, 

Miss Nora E. Bedell. Miss Nellie Jerome. 

Mrs. P. B. Bromfield, Mrs. Frank M. Kerr. 

Miss Ada M. Chapman, Mrs. Chas. H. Ludlmn. 

Mrs. J. P. H. de Windt. Miss C. Noble, 

Mrs. Fanny Davidson, Mrs. C. F. Norton. 

Mrs. Dykes. Mrs. C. Robinson. 

Mr. J. E. Davidson. Mrs. T. Edward Seaman, 

Mrs. Henry C. Eldredge, Mrs. Apollos Smith. 

Mrs. J. H. Epworth. Mrs. Mary E. Sprague. 

Miss Louise Hassinger, Miss Susie Tredwell, 

Mrs. F. W. Werner. 



CHURCH SOCIETIES. 



OFFICERS OF THE LADIES' AID SOCIETY. 



Mrs. 


F. 


W. Miller. 


Mrs. 


C. 


H. Ludlum, 


Mrs. 


(L 


W. Payntar 


Mks. 


E. 


Kellum, 



President. 

Vice-President. 

Secretary. 

Treasurer. 



Meetings once a month. 



OFFICERS OF THE WOHEN'S MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 

Mrs. S. H. Powell. President. 

Mrs. M. Vail, Vice-President. 

Miss Julia H. Thompson, - - Secretary. 

Mrs. T. E. Seaman. Treasurer. 

Meetings third Wednesday of each month. 



OFFICERS OF THE GLEANERS' BAND. 

Mrs. M. Sealev. Directress. 

Miss ALLETTA RYDER. President. 

Miss Edna Allison, Vice-President. 

Miss Teresa E. Allison. Secretary. 

Miss Agnes Smith. " Treasurer. 

Meetings once a month. 



—68— 

OFFICERS OF THE CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR. 

Mr. Edmund Hyde. - President. 

Miss Teresa Allison, Vice: President. 

Miss Maud Oliver. - Bee. Secretary. 

Miss Cornelia Conklin, - Treasurer. 

Mrs. S. H. Powell. - Cor. Secretary. 
Meetings every Sunday evening. 



A Brief History of the Young People's Society 
of Christian Endeavor. 

As mothers fondly welcome their children's children, even unto 
the third and fourth generation, so. in like manner, did this mother 
church take to her warm embrace, this youngest of all her many de- 
scendants, the child, " Christian Endeavor." Comparing its fourteen 
years with the two hundred and fifty of its venerable grandmother, it 
is still an infant, (although of prodigious growth), and there never 
nestled in the ancient " cradle of Presbyterianism" a more precious 
babe than the Christian Endeavor Society of this dear old church. 

It was organized in November, 1890. with a membership of four- 
teen, eleven active, two associate, and one affiliate. 

Since then its growth has been steady, perhaps not so much numer- 
ically, as spiritually, although the number is over one hundred, and 
has done much to develop the intellectual and spiritual power of its 
members. 

Its aim is towards the motto, "For Christ and the Church;" its 
object, to assist in all christian work ; its results are far reaching, and 
this old church may to-day be proud to give the Christian Endeavor 
Society of Christ's First Presbyterian Church, a place in this honored 
celebration. 



MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. 



Albertson, Thomas W. 
Albertson, Mrs. Harriet T. 
Albertson, Mrs. Anna Duryea 
Armstrong, Mrs. Ellen S. 
Armstrong, Miss Isabella 
Armstrong. Miss Deborah 
Armstrong, Edgar J. 
Allen, Mrs. Priscilla J. 
Adams, Harvey B. 
Adams. Mrs. .Sarah E. 
Allison, Miss Edna 
Allen. Mrs. Susie Bedell 



Bedell, Mrs. Coles 
Bedell, Mrs. Emeline 
Bedell, Miss Sarah P. 
Bedell, Miss Leonora 
Bedell. Mrs. Mary 
Bedell, Mrs. Harriet Ann 
Bedell, Mrs. Emma J. 
Bedell, Franklin D. 
Bedell, Mrs. Fannie B. 
Bedell. Miss Hattie 
Bedell. Miss Nora 
Bedell, Miss Cornelia 
Bedell, David 
Bedell, Mrs. Ruth 
Bedell, Mrs. Annie B. 
Bedell, Miss Viola S. 
Bedell. Mrs. Charles A. 
Bedell, Miss Jennie 
Bennett, Mrs. Cornelia 
Bennett, Miss Emma E. 
Bennett. Miss Cornelia 
Bennett. James Henry 
Bromfield, Percy B. 
Bromfield, Mrs." Emma M. 
Boyd, Mrs. Emma A. 
Bu'rtis, Mrs. Marv 
Birchell, Mrs. Julia E. 
Brownell, Miss Maude L. 
Brownell, Miss Anna May 
Brownell, Mrs. Anna J. 
Bray, Frank 

*Deceased since celebration. 



Bray, Mrs. Milla 
Bray, Miss Helen A. 
Burchard, Mrs. Hattie Bedell 
Bond, Eugene 
Boyd, Miss Mabel 
Baldwin. George W. 
Bassett, Mrs. Caroline Adams 
Banchback, Miss Kate J. 



Campbell, Mrs. Hattie E. 
Clowes. Miss Ann Augusta 
Clowes, Miss Augusta 
Clowes. Mrs. Mary D. 
Coles, Mrs. Elizabeth 
*Coles. Mrs. Lydia 
Cooper, Edward 
Cooper, Mrs. Adaline 
Cooper, Miss Ida S. 
Conklin. William F. 
*Conklin. Mrs. Sarah E. 
Conklin, Cornelia D. 
Conklin, Mrs. Martha F. 
Conklin. Miss Emma R. 
Cotte. Mrs. Mattie Phelps 
Collins, Mrs. M. G. 
Chapman, Miss Ada M. 
Cox, Miss Agnes R. 



Davidson, J. E. 
Davidson. Mrs. Elizabeth D. 
Davidson, Augustus 
*Davidson. Mrs. Letitia K. 
Davidson, Mrs. Fannie 
Davis, Mrs. Mary E. 
De la Montagnie, Henry 
De la Montagnie, Mrs. Henry 
DeMott, Andrew J. 
DeMott, Mrs. Hannah P. 
DeMott. Miss Susan E. 
Dvkes, Mrs. William 
Doty, Mrs. L . Beck 
DeWindt, J. P. H. 
DeWindt, Mrs. Millie Berry 
Downing, Willis J. 



-70- 



Davis, Russell B. 
Denton. Mrs. Jennie Weeks 
Denton. .Miss Minnie 
Denton. Miss Emma D. 



Eldridge, Henry C. 
Eldridge, Mrs. Mary B. 

Everitt. Mrs. Elizabeth 
Everitt. Miss Mabel 
Everitt, Miss Ella J. 
Everitt. Charles A. 
Ellison, Mrs. Annie A. 
Epworth, Mrs. Annie 
Epworth. Miss Florence May 
Emory, George 
Emory. Mrs. Hannah W. 



Fleet. Luke 
Fleet, Miss Clara 
Fleet, Miss Helen G. 
Fowler. David 
Franklin, C. F. 
Franklin. Mrs. Annie T. D. 
Fitch, Miss Frances C. 
Firth. Miss Clara B. 
Fowler. Miss Louisa 



Gilbert, Thomas F. 
Gilbert, Mrs. Phebe 
Gilbert, Thomas F.. Jr. 
Gracy. Mrs. Mary L . 
Gracy, Daniel 
Gracy, Miss Frances M. 
Grossman, Miss' Minnie M. 
Golden, Mrs. E. Birchell 
GartrelL Mrs. William 
Green, Mrs. Melinda 
Gillett, Mrs. K. Henderson 
Gasser, Miss Emma B. 

H 

Harold. Mrs. Emma F. 
Hawkins. William 11. 
Hawkins. Mrs. Ellen L. 
Hendrickson, Mrs. Eliza 
Hendrickson. Mrs. Adaline 
Hopkins. Mrs. Mary Ann 
Hopkins. Miss Mary Anna 

*J>eceased sinc< lebration, 



Higbie. Miss Abbie A. 
Hull, Miss Eunice B. 
Hatfield, Miss Laura 
Hinds, Ephraim 
Hinds, Mrs. CM. 
Hinds. Miss Hannah A. 
Hinds. Miss Ada T. 
Hunter, David 
Hunter, Mrs. D. J. 
Hubbard, Mrs. Mary Oliver 
Hvde. Edmund S. 
Hyde. Miss Mary C. 
Hall. Amelia S. 
Hingle. Mrs. Mary E. 
Heald. Miss Josephine D. 
Holmes. Mrs. Leah C. 
Holmes. Miss Jennie D. L. 
Hall, Miss Amelia S. 
Henderson. Mrs. Catherine 
Hendrickson, Miss Ellen H. 
Hays, John Jerome 
Hendrickson, Miss A. C. 
Hass. Max 

I 
Ingraham, Mrs. Gertrude J. 



Jepson. Joachim 
Jepson. Mrs. Ann 
Jerome. Miss Emma L . 
Jerome. Miss Nellie B. 
Jennings. Miss Ellen M. 
Jennings. Miss Annie V. 

K 

'""Kellum. Ebenezer 
Kellum. Ebenezer. Jr. 
Kellum. Mrs. Mary 
Kellum. Miss Marie A. 
Kellum. Miss Phebe 
Ketcham, Mrs. Ida F. 
Ketcham, Miss Ida A. 
Ketcham. Miss Sarah E. 
Kindgrab, I [enry 
Kindgrab, Mrs. Katrine 
Kerr.' Mrs. Evelyn N. 



Lcvs. Mis. Mary Jerome 
Louden. Mrs. Gertrude H, 



Losea, Miss Elizabeth 
Ludlum, Charles H. 
Ludlum , Mrs. Jennie W. 
Ludlum, Clinton W. 
Ludlum. Mrs. Edith M. 
Ludlum. Miss Alice 

M 

Mersereau, John B. 
Mersereau, Mrs. Alletta R. 
Mersereau. Charles E. 
Mersereau. John W. 
Mills. Robert 
Mills. Mrs. Esther 
Minshull. Mrs. S. H. 
Minshull, Miss Florence H. 
Monagan. Miss Ann 
Mowbray, Mrs. Elizabeth 
.Myers. Miss Ida F. 
Matthews, John 
Matthews, Mrs. Julia 
Mackay. John 
Mackay, Mrs. Mary B. 
*Marsh,"Mrs. Caroline 
Miller. Mrs. Augusta 
Meginn, Mis^ Mary E. 
Mendoza. Alexander 
Meyers. Miss Josephine 

MC. 

McCoy, Miss Emma L . 
McCoy. Miss Carrie 
McLean, Mrs. Christie 
McCoy, Miss Mary A. 
McKenzie. John A. 
McKenzie. Mrs. Isabelle 
McKeige. Ferdinand 

N 

Nebee. Mary 
Norton, Mrs. Sarah 
Nostrand. Mrs. Alice W. 
Noon, Mrs. Ann J. (Cox) 
Nichols, Mrs. M. D. 
Noon. Miss Minnie 



Osso. Miss Mary Ann 

P 

Parsons. Mrs. Rebecca S. 

*I)ert>ase<l sine- celebration. 



I 'lace, Miss Josephine 
Pine, Mrs. Jane 
Powell, Mrs. Cornelia E. 
Pfleging, Mrs. Louisa 
Payntar, George W. 
Payntar, Mrs. Kate 
Post. Mrs. Jenette 
Pliug, Augustus 
Pflug, Mrs. Marie 
Patterson. J. E. 
Place. Mrs. Carrie S. 
Patterson. Mrs. Margaret 
Powell. 8. H. 
Pettit. Mrs. Jane 

R 

Rapelyea, George G. 
Rapelyea, Mrs. Alletta W. 
Rapelyea, William W. 
Rhodes, Richard W. 
Rhodes. Mrs. Catherine A. 
Rhodes. Mrs. Irene Ronk 
Ryder. Miss Alletta B. 
Redfield. Miss Martha 



Seabury, Mrs. Mary H. 
Schmidt. Mrs. Jennie 
Scott. Mrs. Mary Ann 
Sea ley, Daniel 
'"'Sealey. Sylvester 
Sealey". Mrs. Martha 
Sealey. Mrs. Lydia A. 
Sealey. Miss Mary Edna 
Seaman, Frank 
Shaw. Silas 

Shaw. Mrs. Pamelia Ann 
Stoffel, Miss Julia 
Seaman, Mrs. Annie R. 
Seaman, Miss Edna R. 
Sibley. Mrs. Henrietta 
Sibley. Miss Nettie Estelle 
"Simonson, Mrs. Hannah A. 
Shaw. Miss Mary E. 
Smith. Mrs. Anna A. 
Sammis, Mrs. Annie 
Springer. Daniel 
Springer, Mrs. Arzelia R. 
Seifurt, George 
Seifurt. Miss Lizzie 
Schilling. William 
Schilling. Mrs. Annie E. 



^72- 



Savage. Morgan L . 
Statts, Charles R. 
Styles, James A. 
Smith, Elenor S. 
Selover, Mrs. Josephine 
Sherwood, Mrs. Harriett 
Smith, Mrs. Sarah 
Smith, Mrs. George 
Snedeker, Lewis 
Snedeker, Mrs. Mary 
Snedeker, J. Seymour 
Schlegel, Henry 
Schlegel, Annie Katharine 
Snyder, Mrs. Margaret P. 
Smith, Miss Rebecca H. 
Schneider, Miss Annie 
Spears. Christiana Agnes 
Shurr, Christian 
Stuve, Miss Annie 
Sinott, Mi's. Jane 



Thompson, Miss Julia H. 
Thompson, Miss Marie Louise 
Thompson, Miss Bessie H. 
Totten, Mrs. Susan A. 
Tompkins, Miss Elizabeth D. 
Tompkins, Miss Alletta 

V 

Vollmar, Miss Annie 
Van Nostrand, Mrs. John 
Valentine, Miss Carrie W. 



Valentine, John H. 
Van Cott, Charles 
Vandewater. Mrs. Maggie Seim 
Van Wicklin, Mrs. Mary V. 
Vangeison, Miss Anna R. 

W 

Whealey, Anthony D. 
Whealey, Mrs. Anthony 
Walker* Mrs. Eliza 
Weeks, Miss Phebe E. 
Weeks. H. Luther 
Weeks. Miss Edith May 
Werner, Mrs. Josephine 
Werner. Miss Sophie S. 
Wright. Miss M. H. 
Wood, Mrs. Elizabeth 
Williams, Peter S. A. 
Watts, Mrs. Mary E. 
Williams, Mrs. Marie 
Wood, Mrs. Harriet 
Wood, Miss H. W. 
Watson, Miss Cassie 
Walker. Mrs. Phebe J. 
Willets, Mrs. Sarah 
Willets, Miss Phebe E. 
Williams, Mrs. Ann Hubs 
Watson, Miss Cassie J. 
Weeks. Miss Maude L . 



Young. Mrs. Marv W. 



